Dierks Bentley Invites His Favorite Artists to Seven Peaks Music Festival

Dierks Bentley’s inaugural Seven Peaks Music Festival kicks off on Friday, August 31. The three-day event begins with a ’90s themed night, with some of the reigning hitmakers of the era taking the stage.

“It’s the first time to have a festival that has a night devoted just to 90s country music,” Bentley shares with PopCulture.com and other media. “Terri Clark and David Lee Murphy actually have a hit out now. It’s pretty awesome. Clint Black and Sawyer Brown – I remember seeing Sawyer Brown play at MTSU and it was awesome. [Lead singer] Mark Miller had this moving walkway in the middle of his set and he was just doing all these crazy moves.

“So we’ll be out there watching that whole thing,” he continues. “I’ll be curious to see how it goes over, but I just feel like from my research and development on the road, it feels like everyone loves that music. They’re nostalgic for it. It’s a great period in country music – great song writing.”

Bentley, who fronts his own 90s cover band, Hot Country Knights, is particularly fond of that era of music, which he credits with helping him pursue his own career.

“That’s really the kind of songs that drew me to Nashville and to songwriting,” the 42-year-old explains. “It sounds simple; it’s hard to write those songs as simple as they sound. That left right, right wrong, yin yang type of lyrics and the release and the hook. I just love the simplicity of that kind of music and the instrumentation and that period. It’s just very nostalgic for me.”

Bentley’s Seven Peaks Music Festival will take place in Colorado, the state that inspired much of his recent The Mountain album, and will include many of his own personal favorite artists. Although doing all the work for Seven Peaks has been arduous, the Arizona native is confident his hard work will be rewarded.

“I feel like the way to make a successful record, or a successful festival, is just do it for yourself, right?,” Bentley notes. “Make music for yourself that interests you and the more personal the better. And I feel like this festival is a direct reflection of that because to have 90s. and to also have contemporary country with Miranda [Lambert] and Brothers Osborne and Cadillac Three, Elle King – it’s all my buddies there.

“But then to also have a night interspersed in there, Del McCoury Band and Sam Bush and some other bluegrass,” he adds. “We’ll see if they all get along. It’ll be interesting to cruise around the campgrounds and get the vibe.”

Tickets for the Seven Peaks Music Festival are still available. More information can be found by visiting the event’s website.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Rick Diamond