Dierks Bentley knows how to cut a killer collaboration. Since he started throwing punches as a bonafide heavyweight in country music roughly two decades ago, Bentley has regularly added to his robust resume by tracking songs with red-hot bluegrass pickers, Americana torchbearers, and legendary storytellers. Some of the artists he’s worked with? Brandi Carlile, Kris Kristofferson, Maren Morris, Jamey Johnson and Miranda Lambert, Elle King, Terri Clark, and Billy Strings, among many more.
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And while he may be best recognized as a solo singer delivering knockout blows on country radio— he’s delivered nearly two dozen No. 1 songs to date, including like go-to party jam “Drunk On A Plane” and the road-worn “Free and Easy” – Bentley often holds his own in songwriting circles and on primetime collaborations (like the time he and War and Treaty set Nashville’s Station Inn ablaze during an ACM Awards performance).
“I feel like I’m always a student of songwriting,” Bentley told American Songwriter earlier this year. “Never stop being a student, I think, is the key to songwriting.”
Let’s dig deeper into Bentley’s long-running collaboration history with four songs he co-wrote and cut alongside a rotating cast of hit-making artists.
1. “Beers On Me,” Dierks Bentley featuring Breland and Hardy
Written by Bentley, Ashley Gorley, Luke Dick, Ross Copperman, Breland, Michael Hardy, Nicolle Gaylon, Ben Johnson and Niko Moon
For the 2021 chart-topping hit “Beers On Me,” Bentley enlisted breakout artists Breland and Hardy to join him for an essential slice of boozy summertime escapism. The track features a who’s-who of behind-the-scenes Nashville songwriters—including radio kingpin Ashley Gorley, ACM Award winner Nicolle Gaylon, and breakout artist Niko Moon, among others—who together crafted a message that resonated with listeners thirsty for a fresh take on neon-soaked comradery. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and cracked the Top 40 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, earning a Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.
“The song ‘Beers on Me’ talks about, Hey, you’ve had a hard time, you’re having a rough week, come on down to the bar, [the] beers are on me,” Bentley told Rolling Stone in 2021. “It’s not rocket science. It’s something you’d tell a buddy.”
Come on down, swing on by
Bring whatever’s been on your mind
Locals on tap and bottles on ice
Livin’ on feel-good standard time
My card’s on the bar, you got nowhere to be
If you don’t come through, buddy, that’s on you
‘Cause the beer’s on me
Yeah, the beer’s on me
2. “Train Travelin’,” featuring the Del McCoury Band
Written by Bentley
Bentley can hold his own with any bluegrass player. As a Nashville newcomer, he cut his teeth inside Station Inn, the city’s historic club for string music. Years later, arguably at the height of his hitmaking powers (and after regularly featuring bluegrass pickers for one-off tracks on his major label country albums), Bentley released Up On The Ridge – a collection of bluegrass-inspired tunes that stands as one of his most celebrated releases. He’s also headlined the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival and cut multiple songs with genre legend Del McCoury.
But which bluegrass co-write stands out in Bentley’s discography? That goes to the debut album deep cut “Train Travelin,’” featuring the aforementioned McCoury and his family band. Caked in McCoury harmonies, the slow-building song weaves a reflective story of a trainyard rambler – offering an early taste of many bluegrass numbers to come in Bentley’s career. A rare solo write from Bentley, the song closed his self-titled debut on Capitol Records Nashville.
I hear you train, are you travelin’ my way?
Won’t you let me ride your rails right back to yesterday?
Who knows what I could see from that old time machine?
But there you go again train travelin’
There you go again train travelin’
3. “Mardi Gras,” featuring Trombone Shorty
Written by Bentley, Natalie Hemby, and Steve Moakler
What happens when a country singer collides with a staple of today’s New Orleans jazz scene? Enter: “Mardi Gras,” a freewheelin’, funky jam featuring go-to Louisiana bandleader Trombone Shorty on horns. The song debuted on Bentley’s 2016 studio effort, Black.
Trying like hell to hold the bell of a ball
She pulled me in a world of wonder
It’s a charade trying to love her
It’s like trying to save a soul from Mardi Gras
4. Herassmeant,’ Hot Country Knights featuring Darla McFarland (AKA Lainey Wilson)
Written by Bentley, Lainey Wilson, Luke Dick and Jim Beavis
Douglas Doug Douglasson – AKA Bentley’s throwback country alter-ego and frontman of totally serious ‘90s band Hot Country Knights – enlisted long-lost singer Darla McFarland (*cough* Lainey Wilson *cough*) for this tongue-in-cheek single. And while the goofy play-on-words may cause some listeners to do a double-take, the song unironically captures ‘90s country nostalgia.
Bentley: Oh I hated to see her go
Wilson: Oh, but he loved to watch me leave
Bentley: Herassmeant everything to me
Photo by Jim Wright / Greenroom PR
