Dierks Bentley Holds Nothing Back

Dierks Bentley opens up to Radio.com about how personal his songs really are.

When Dierks Bentley sits down to write a song, he writes straight from the heart. So much so that when he plays his songs at his concerts, he finds it difficult to look his fans in the eyes. The songs are so personal that he feels like the moments are very private.

Dierks does a good job of balancing playing for himself and playing for his fans.

“You can’t forget what you’re there to do on a Friday, Saturday night,” Bentley told Radio.com.

“People have worked hard all week. They’re spending money for your show. You’re there to have a good time and not get too inside yourself.”

“There’s times I look at someone in the crowd, and I see someone cry or get emotional, and I have to zone away or close my eyes so I can finish the song without going there, as well,” he said of some of the deeper, personal songs from his nearly 12 years in the business.

Especially some of his newer, heavier songs.

Like “Here on Earth,” which Bentley says is “a really honest song that I think people who have experienced a traumatic loss will connect with. I like that it’s different than what I’ve written.”

And “Damn These Dreams,” the one he says will always be a really personal song for him because it’s so real — about chasing that same old whiskey melody up and down the Nashville streets.