Dierks Bentley talks Tex-Mex, Billy Bob’s Texas ahead of Fort Worth Dickies Arena concert

After over two decades in country music, Dierks Bentley is still having fun.

Bentley, 48, was born in Phoenix and in his adult years made the move to Nashville like so many aspiring country singers do. In the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, Bentley cut his teeth playing in bars in the “Country Music Capital of the World.”

In 2003, Bentley released his self-titled debut album to much acclaim and, particularly the song “What Was I Thinkin,” topped the music charts. It was around this time that Bentley made his first stop at Fort Worth’s Billy Bob’s Texas.

“Yeah, Billy Bob’s great memories being there,” Bentley told the Star-Telegram. “Love the Stockyards.”

Over the next decade, Bentley would release several albums with songs such as “Drunk On a Plane” and “I Hold On” topping the charts

Bentley released his 10th studio album last year titled “Gravel & Gold” and also subsequently kicked off a tour in support of the record over the summer. Now, the singer is gearing up to hit the road again on the second leg of the tour, which stops by Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena on Friday.

The “Beers on Me” singer spoke with the Star-Telegram ahead of his Cowtown show about playing at Billy Bob’s, his love of Tex-Mex food and why his parody band won’t stop following him around.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

? More trending stories from our newsroom:

→ Video: Lightning strikes truck on I-35 in Fort Worth. "I was in shock"

→ Fort Worth increases property tax breaks for seniors

→ Want to visit new Palo Pinto state park? You'll have to wait.

Star-Telegram: I guess we’ll just jump right into it. Thanks for the time today, I can’t even tell you how many times I heard “What Was I Thinking” on the radio growing up. It’s nice to finally get a chance to chat.

Dierks Bentley: Yeah man, that song’s almost 20 years old. It is 20 years old, I can’t believe that. It’s been around a long time.

ST: You have the “Gravel & Gold Tour” stopping by Fort Worth. I was curious, would you call this the second leg of the tour? I know y’all did some of the tour last year.

DB: Yeah, it’s kind of the second leg of the tour. We’re hitting a lot of the markets that we didn’t hit last year. I really love the tour. I mean, I just love the design of the set and really want to hold onto that for another year. There’s going to be some changes musically from last year a little bit. Added some songs and moved some things around. But for the most part, it’s the same tour. It was just so fun last year and ended too soon and we didn’t get a chance to play a lot of places we wanted to play. We’re gonna make up for that now.

ST: The tour starts soon and is pretty much non-stop for the next few months. I’ve always been curious about artists going on tour and what that’s like. Is there anything that you have to get done before going on tour? Like get the oil changed in the car beforehand since you’ll be gone for a while. Is there a checklist?

DB: Absolutely, yeah. I mean, for me it just kind of really revolves around totally just surrendering to the tour, right? I’m in town at my son’s hockey practice right now, it never ends [laughs]. I’ve got a lot of things I’m needed for here and can help out while I’m home. But when the tour starts, it’s about just the tour and making sure whatever we do everyday leads to having the best show that night. Fortunately, that involves getting outside whether it’s playing pickleball with the guys in the band in the parking lot. Or basketball, or working out, or cold plunging, or whatever we do to spend the day. It’s all good stuff with the band and crew and it’s fun and it kind of helps get ready for the show that night.

We have tour rehearsals that have been going on for a while. I’ll head over there today to keep fine tuning everything, make sure everything is ready to go for the road. It also involves making sure the bikes are ready to go and all the toys are ready. We have fun out there. If you’re not having fun on the road, then you’re doing something wrong. I mean, it’s really fun. I’ve got the golf clubs packed, all the toys and we’re ready to go out there and have a great time during the day and then see our friends who come out before the show. And of course all the fans. Its the best. It’s our little circus that we’ve been doing for the last 20 years and we love it.

ST: Looking back, I was trying to figure out when your first Dallas-Fort Worth area show was. I believe I tracked it down to August 2003 at Billy Bob’s Texas here in Fort Worth. Is that true and if so, do you remember anything from that show?

DB: Yeah, I think Billy Bob’s was 2003 — the first time I played there. I know I was there before with Cross Canadian Ragweed and Randy Rogers, I think too. I mean, last time I was at Billy Bob’s was the best time I’ve ever been there, because I was there for Miranda Lambert’s birthday party. It was great because I never had a chance to really walk around the place, right? I’ve always seen the backstage, which is amazing, and all the bricks everyone signed and the stage of course. The view from the stage is incredible. But just to get the chance to walk around the building and look at all the stuff, it was so fun. [Laughs] I spent three hours at Billy Bob’s just hanging out it’s like, “Wow, this is so fun”.

Probably every country singer I know has spent a lot of time in bars, I certainly have. You start off playing and you live in bars and you’re used to being in bars. I love being in bars. Then things work out and now you’re on stage all the time and you’re not really hanging out in the bar much anymore. So it was really fun being there and just getting a chance to be a regular patron and hanging out with Miranda and all our musical buddies. Wade Bowen was there, of course Randy [Rogers] and Jack Ingram and it was just a really fun hang. Yeah, Billy Bob’s great memories being there. Love the Stockyards. Of course, we’re playing a little bit bigger venue, which is awesome. I plan on getting around a little bit that day and checking things out.

ST: You should, yeah. Billy Bob’s recently did some renovations earlier this year and they removed some of those poles there in the middle. Much better viewing experience nowadays.

DB: Yeah there’s always those poles, which is tricky, but I always kind of liked them because it was so old school. Real Texas beer hall, you know. But yeah, I’ll definitely be checking it out.

ST: Speaking of Fort Worth, you’ve been here several times over the years. Is there any restaurants or places you always hit up while back in town?

DB: Oh man, where will I be going when I’m there? That’s a good one. What’s the place I ate at there last time I was there with Jon Randall. It’s not Güero’s, that’s Austin.

ST: Joe T. Garcia’s?

DB: Yep that’s exactly what it was. Yeah that place is amazing. We ate at a little outdoor area, beautiful. I’m a huge Mexican food fan and living in Tennessee, you just don’t get it. I’m from Arizona originally. It’s odd how they can’t do it out here. It’s pretty simple, you know? Take a burrito, you just have to have the right tortilla and butter and refried beans. But everything here is like, the tortillas are just weird and everything is always caked in cheese. It’s just unfortunate. I don’t know, it’s just weird. It’s a whole different style of food. But yes, whenever I’m in Texas I always get Tex-Mex. Definitely try to stop by there if I can, or maybe get them to cater some food after the show.

ST: For sure, they’re one of the biggest places in Fort Worth. Shifting into music, I wanted to ask you about bluegrass. I know you’re a big fan of the genre and funny enough, I spoke with Ricky Skaggs last month, who is bluegrass legend. I believe you guys performed together once at the Grand Ole Opry. But yeah, you’ve released several pieces of bluegrass over your career, where does that love of the genre come from?

DB: Yeah bluegrass for me started when I moved to Nashville to find the source of this music that I love so much. Obviously, I wanted to be a country singer and all that, but it wasn’t even about like fame or celebrity. I was obsessed with country music, I just love the music. I moved here to find the source of this music I love so much. I got here and the music world just was just not what I ... it seemed very fake to me. I felt like a lot of people dressed like Garth Brooks and a lot of people weren’t writing their own songs. The cowboy hats, the starched Wranglers and all that, which I grew up in Arizona around that but it wasn’t my personal style. That was the only style that existed in 1994. I was like, “Wow, I don’t see how I fit into this and this is not really what I was looking for”.

Then I walked into this bluegrass bar, this tiny little dive, literally looked like a jailhouse this cinder block walled building. All they served was beer and popcorn. There’s a bunch of guys wearing just regular old jeans and regular old tennis shoes and t-shirts that don’t fit that great. But they’re singing and playing the most beautiful music. It’s not just singing their own songs that I had never heard of before, it was also Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, George Jones and they’re doing it with acoustic instruments. I really realized there that country music and bluegrass started as one kind of music. It diverged with the introduction of drums and electrification. But I was like, “Wow, this is what I’ve been looking for.” These guys don’t give a shit about fame or fortune, they’re just here because they love playing their instruments and singing country music.

I became a disciple of the bluegrass community and they really took me in. That’s where I got my start is with that community, this education 101 started right there. Guys like Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Marty Stuart, these guys in bluegrass ended up having country careers. I just think there’s a lot of connections and in my music, I try to make sure those instruments are featured not only on my records but in my live shows. My current single that I have out, we did a cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “American Girl.” Our version of that song, it really reflects what I’ve tried to make in my little niche of country music, which is the big drums and big electric guitars and big sound that fills up a room. But also a heavy dose of banjo and fiddle and mandolin and dobro and all those instruments that I think are the coolest instruments. It was funny, I was just at a Noah Kahan concert with my 13-year-old daughter and it’s cool to see these kids rocking out to guys that are playing banjo and fiddle, which are featured prominently in their show. It’s cool to see that happening right now in music.

ST: Your first album came out 20 years ago last year and then you had your 10th album, “Gravel & Gold,” also released in 2023. I know the latest album came after this reflection point during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now 21 years into your career, where do you see these next 10 albums and two decades for you?

DB: Oh man, great question. Well, yeah, it’s definitely not about quantity anymore. I’ve had a chance to play gigs I never dreamed I could play like selling out Madison Square Garden and playing in Nashville and Phoenix. And a lot of charts success and all that. It’s really just about making quality projects and it has been that way for a while really. Trying to make records that feel like albums that you want to have on your shelf for a long time. Albums that feel like books that have chapters and themes. For me, it’s just about trying to find the muse for the next album and lean into it and try to create something that has value as an album for me. Albums are kind of out of style, but it’s something that really means something to me down the road. And still touring.

I have in my band, really some of the best musicians in this town. You talk about Ricky Skaggs and the guys in my band actually played with Ricky Skaggs when they were a lot younger. To be in Ricky Skaggs band, if you’re not one of the best coming in, you’ll be one of the best coming out. They’ve been through the Ricky Skaggs school of country and bluegrass music, I mean he is the greatest educator there is. I just have some great musicians in my band and I love playing with them. It’s so fun being on stage with them. I have a great crew that every venue we play, all I hear is how great my crew was to work with. We got a really good thing going. As long as that’s still happening and we’re having fun and doing it at this high level, we’ll keep doing it. If people still want to see us, we’ll still be out there doing it.

ST: Speaking of good things, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about the Hot Country Knights. I was telling a co-worker that I’m going to speak with you soon and they asked if I had heard of your other band. A quick search later, I found the Knights and thought, “Why didn’t I know about this sooner?”. With your tour coming up, any chance the Knights make an appearance?

DB: Oh man, the Knights, we don’t want them out there. Nobody wants the Knights out there. They follow us around. They literally will attach their van and they’ll hook it up to the back of our bus and we can’t get rid of them. They have a padlock on there. So yeah, they’ll be sniffing our diesel all the way to Fort Worth and they have a really unfortunate habit of closing the show. After “Drunk on a Plane,” these guys jump out on stage and think that’s headlining. It’s really illegal, is what it should be called and they call it headlining. They go out there after the show is over, in my mind, and they do their assortment of ‘90s country. If you like ‘90s country and all that, these guys, they’ll be there “headlining” the show. But yeah, look for the Knights after we close it out.

ST: Sounds like a plan. Last question for you Dierks, what can you tease for the upcoming Fort Worth show?

DB: Yeah man, it’s gonna be just fun. We go out there to have a fun time for ourselves as well. I never say that we put on a show, because that just feels like work. We go there and have like an experience as a band. We have a set list and a show that we run, but it’s really open to interpretation every night. Spontaneous moments and connecting with the crowd, that’s what makes it fun. To kick if off opening weekend in Texas means a lot. So all the hits and it’s a lot of energy and a lot of fun.

Dierks Bentley performs Friday night at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. Tickets are still available here.