Dierks Bentley mixes motorcycles, music for charity

by Peter Cooper of the Tennessean

On Sunday, Bentley will host a charity motorcycle ride and concert that will draw Tim McGraw, John Rich, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Halfway To Hazard, the Warren Brothers and others. It's a mid-afternoon ride followed by a twilight concert, with proceeds going to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

What are you riding these days? It's the same bike I've had for the past five years: a 2003 Softail Harley-Davidson, with a couple of extra tricks to it. I had a little higher handlebars put on, and silver-braid cable, and I had it lowered a little. I'm really looking forward to this ride, in part because I didn't get to ride at all this summer. We've been gone, and this gives me a chance to ride.

What was your first bike? The first one I bought in 1996. It was already 10 years old: a Honda CX500. I bought it for $500, from a guy in a parking lot that was across from the Holiday Inn on West End, back before P.F. Chang's and all that was there. I had never ridden and didn't know how. But I paid this guy $500 and had him ride it around the block, so I'd know that it worked. Then that guy left, and I waited until the road was all clear and talked to myself about how to ride: 'This hand's the clutch, this one's the brake.' Somehow, I got it back to my house. I stalled out a bunch, but I got there. I'm not saying it's the right way to do it, but I learned to ride the same way I learned to sing. I'm self-taught. I used to drive that Honda to work every day, when I worked at The Nashville Network out at Opryland. I'd take I-40 and then Briley Parkway, dodging potholes and bad drivers and breathing carbon dioxide. I'd be exhausted by the time I got to work, but it saved on gas.

Why'd you ditch the Honda? I sold it in 2001, for $600. A profit. Those old Hondas retain their value. I signed a deal with Sony Publishing and they gave me an advance, and I went and put a down payment on this sucker. I bought it from Boswell's Harley in Nashville, but I go for service at Cool Springs Harley-Davidson, and that's where we start this charity ride every year.

Does your wife ride? She loves riding. She can't fit right now, 'cause her belly's so big. (Bentley's wife, Cassidy, is quite pregnant with their first child.)

How does the concert part of this event work? We try to keep it simple, and acoustic, and down-home. There'll be video screens, but this isn't a produced 'show.' People can yell out requests, and I want the vibe to be laidback and loose and fun. The way most concert tours are done now, a guest can't get up and do a song or two on the fly without an act of Congress. But with this there's no schedule of who gets on stage when. It's more like, 'Well, Keith Anderson's back here. Keith, you want to get up and do one?' And I don't have to try hard to sell it to people to get them involved. They're like, 'Come out, ride a motorcycle and sing a song? Sure.'

Why did you pick the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital as the charity? My manager's son was born with some health issues, and they've had to use the hospital a lot. He's a great kid, and they've been very good to him. And they admit children regardless of their parents' ability to pay. You can argue about universal health care for everyone, but health care for kids should absolutely be universal. Kids should receive access to medical care.

Reach Peter Cooper at 615-259-8220 or pcooper@tennessean.com.