Local

Bentley sells out The Hoop

Country music artists Dierks Bentley and The Cadillac Black performed at the sold out Hooper Eblen Center last night for this semester’s SOLO Concert Series.
Bentley, 36, played for nearly 7,000 people last night, which marks the first time in the concert series’ history that an artist has sold out The Hoop for a SOLO concert.
“We pulled up and saw that big line of people,” Bentley said. “It was really exciting, really cool.”
Bentley said he’s played at many colleges around the nation and enjoys performing for college-aged crowds.
According to Lee Gatts, SGA president, tickets were sold out Tuesday morning.
Bentley performed many of his charting-topping singles, including “Come a Little Closer,” “Feel That Fire,” “Sideways” and “Every Mile a Memory.”
Bentley is on his sixth album release for Capitol Records Nashville, which includes “Am I The Only One,” “Home” and “5-1-5-0.” All three singles reached No. 1 positions on the Hot Country Songs charts, according to Billboard Magazine.
Bentley attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., where he graduated in 1997. Before that, he spent a year at the University of Vermont, where he was initiated into the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
“I majored in English,” Bentley said. “It was my way of getting in [to the music industry]. The first thing I did was went to the Country Music Association and got an internship there and started pouring coffee and filing papers.”
Bentley has worked with various country music artists throughout the years, including Alison Krauss, Patty Griffin, Miranda Lambert and George Jones.
“I’d love to record with George [Strait],” Bentley said. “I just love him to death.
“Tomorrow I play a benefit concert in memory of Johnny Cash,” Bentley said. “Willie Nelson will be there. I’m going to try and pester him into recording.”
Growing up, Bentley listened to country radio stations with artists such as Randy Travis and George Strait.
“When I turned 13 I discovered the electric guitar,” Bentley said. “I started listening to artists like Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses.”
Nashville natives Jaren Johnston, Neil Mason and Kelby Ray of The Cadillac Black opened for Bentley. The trio started the band in 2011.
The three performed singles including “I’m Southern,” “Days of Gold” and “Whiskey Soaked Redemption.”
Lead singer Johnston co-wrote Keith Urban’s No. 1 single “You Gonna Fly.”