Though he didn’t take part in the Route 91 Harvest Festival this past week, country star Dierks Bentley was left badly shaken by the massacre that left 58 dead and more than 500 others injured.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Bentley revealed he’s having a hard time “physically moving.”
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“I had to take Twitter off my phone because I’ve just been looking at it for two days straight,” Bentley said. “It’s just the heaviest, darkest thing I can remember since 9/11.”
Naturally, the country music community is unlike any other and is one close-knit group, one boasting familial values.
“Those fans are all family to us. It’s a community like no other, and I’m sure I know some people that were killed or wounded. We see a lot of the same faces on the road. It’s a really tight group,” he noted. “The boundaries between the audience and the stage are thin, metaphorically, in country music.”
Bentley is home in Nashville with his family, but on Wednesday went out to donate blood to the Red Cross, in an effort to help the victims of the tragedy.
“First smile in two days thanks to being around other donors and great people,” Bentley wrote alongside a series of images. “I haven’t really been able to function at all since the shooting. Such deep sorrow. Sadness. Heavy and dark.”
Bentley went on to outline his relationship with country music fans, as well as his band and crew, stating it was something he cherishes deeply.
“Some of those friendships have been forged for well over a decade. My heart breaks over and over again for all those fans in Las Vegas and their families.”
