Dierks Bentley to Perform 'The Mountain' Album For Benefit Show at the Ryman

Dierks Bentley will give fans a sneak peek of his new album, The Mountain, on June 7, at a concert at the Ryman Auditorium. Bentley will play the record in its entirety, with proceeds benefiting the Opry Trust Fund.

"This album started as the smallest seed of an idea," Bentley says. "It was inspired by where I am in my life right now, but also by the people I meet out on the road who triumph over hardship every day. We all share this underlying sense of gratitude and hope, which really became the base of The Mountain, so I wanted to introduce it as a whole story for the first time with all the fans in town for CMA Music Fest. Doing it at the Ryman and to help out the Opry Trust Fund makes the night even more special."

The Mountain was written and recorded in Telluride, after Bentley, on a rare day off, found himself drawn to making music in the picturesque town.

"Usually when I'm vacation, I don't really reach for my guitar," Bentley explains. "I'm there to recharge in a way. Here I am out in the middle of the tour – the heavy part of the tour – playing my guitar and singing and my voice is hoarse, and I just found myself wanting to hold my guitar and play songs, which is a really weird thing for me on an off-day on the tour. There's just something here, which I can't put into words, but I feel like this could be a good starting place in some way. What I'm looking for is here somehow. I know that's weird, but making albums is a hard thing to really verbalize to the people you're working with."

The Arizona native already revealed that his next set of tunes would be full of substance, without any of the fun tunes like "5-1-5-0" or "Somewhere on a Beach," which have peppered his previous eight projects.

"The whole experience was transformative for me, and it was going out on a limb with a little idea and following it to the end," Bentley tells Nashville's Tennessean. "It was a really magical experience. But I know we're in Nashville, Tennessee, and everybody is making records. It's hard for me to balance the specialness of this album with overthinking my overall experience in this town."

The Colorado influence shaped everything in The Mountain, including the entire tone of album.

"I feel like last year was a really heavy year for country music and something about being in the mountains, that felt really freeing and really good," he adds. "I feel like it was needed for me and hopefully this music is helpful for my fans in the same way, too."

The listening event occurs one day before The Mountain's June 8 release date. Pre-sale tickets will be available on Tuesday, May 15, with tickets officially going on sale on Friday, May 18. Tickets can be purchased on the Ryman's website.

Photo Credit: Instagram/dierksbentley