Dierks Bentley Says Kenny Chesney 'Set the Bar' in Country Music

Long before Dierks Bentley was a headliner, the Arizona native served as the opening act for several tours, including for country music icon Kenny Chesney. Now, as Bentley prepares for his Burning Man Tour, with Jon Pardi and Tenille Townes serving as his opening acts, he says almost everything he does on the road, he learned from Chesney.

"For me, Kenny was the one and is the one," Bentley told Billboard. "There are other acts who don't give their opening acts time to sound check, which for me is just a given. Kenny was the one that really set the bar for the industry. He really showed you what the road should feel like and made everybody feel important. We make yearbooks every year and I stole that straight from Kenny. Not everyone's like that — I've been on tours that have been kind of miserable — but Kenny's the one I learned from and tried to emulate."

Although Bentley declines to name which tours were less than enjoyable, he does hope to copy those acts who inspired Bentley when he was just getting started.

"George Strait is awesome; just being around him is incredible," gushed Bentley. "Kenny's the one that really actively made sure you had a great experience on the road. That's what I want for these guys. I want them to have the best time they've ever had on the road. More importantly, for the fans, I want these guys and girls to have all the tools at their disposal, whether it's lights, production, sound, and time to sound check so they can go on stage and put on the best show possible for our fans. Positive vibes all around."

Bentley is eager to give Townes an opportunity to share her music, especially considering the struggle female artists currently face.

"The fact that she's a new female artist, personally for me, really excites me," Bentley admitted. "We need some more women in our format and if I can play a small role in shining a light on one of those folks, it makes me feel very lucky to be able to do that. Regardless of all that, she's super talented and I'm excited to have that energy out there on the road with me and Jon, we could use that."

"It will be a very different feel for us backstage," he added, "but I pride myself on showing new artists how headliners should act and behave and hopefully spoil them so that when they go out after me, they always say they had the best experience with us."

Bentley's Burning Man Tour kicks off on Jan. 17 in Ontario. Find dates at Dierks.com.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Erika Goldring