Country music artist Dierks Bentley started playing the electric guitar when he was only 13 years old. In 2003 he signed with Capitol Records and released his self-titled debut album. In total, Bentley has released six studio albums and number seven will be released late in 2013.
 
Born in Phoenix Arizona, Dierks inherited his love of music from his father.  At the age of 19, he moved to Nashville and took a job with the Nashville Network researching old footage of country performances. Not happy with the Nashville scene, he turned to bluegrass to help establish his own sound. Although he used the bluegrass sound, he isn’t simply a bluegrass player. His style spans between country and contemporary music, and is credited for turning contemporary music fans into country music fans.
 
In 2012, C.F. Martin & CO. released the HD Dierks Bentley Custom Signature Artist Edition guitar was released. It featured a classic Martin Dreadnought shape, and Bentley himself unveiled it on CMT’s Unplugged. The shape of the guitar was fitting because the Martin D-28 is what Dierks has been playing for years. In fact, he got a Martin D18 in 1971 and still has it today. When speaking about the multi-functionality of Martin guitars, Bentley is quoted as saying “For me, it’s the official bluegrass guitar, but it’s used for a lot of different styles of music other than just bluegrass”
 
Bentley’s style of playing and love of the guitar was influenced by artist such as Del McCoury, Lester Flatt, Dwight Yoakam, and Marty Stuart. In 2010, he released an all-acoustic album entitled Up on the Ridge. It was the album that showed off his bluegrass-influenced style than his previous albums. To play like Dierks you need to use a combination of an acoustic guitar along with the electric guitar in a Western song structure. His style of playing the guitar, with its rich sound, is reachable for most amateur and experienced guitar players.
 
 
Keep Rockin’!!!