Track Listing

1. What Was I Thinkin'
2. Wish It Would Break
3. Forget About You
4. I Can Only Think Of One
5. My Last Name
6. Bartenders, etc...
7. Is Anybody Loving You These Days
8. My Love Will Follow You
9. How Am I Doin'
10. Distant Shore
11. I Bought The Shoes
12. Whiskey Tears
13. Train Travelin' (with The Del McCoury Band)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14537 in Music
• Released on: 2003-08-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
Dierks Bentley’s debut album is a textbook case of the good things that can happen to a talented singer/songwriter who comes to Nashville and holds fast to his dream. Arriving from Phoenix at age 19, Bentley played the downtown clubs and allied himself with bluegrass musicians and commercial songwriters who loved country’s tradition, but modernized the form with rhythmic energy and contemporary lyrics. The result is an impressive debut that melds the attitude of honky tonk with the instrumentation of bluegrass (the Del McCoury band and Bryan Sutton guest), and establishes Bentley as a New Artist to Watch. Already the irresistible "What Was I Thinkin’," a breakneck story song with a plot line straight out of The Dukes of Hazzard, has topped the charts as the first debut single to reach number one in two years. But Bentley’s appeal runs far beyond a catchy novelty song, and his choice of originals and covers (Buddy and Julie Miller’s "My Love Will Follow You") add up to one of the year’s most memorable albums--just one more factor in country’s burgeoning swing back to tradition. --Alanna Nash

Customer Reviews

A stellar, COUNTRY, debut CD!
I hesitated to buy this album. "What Was I Thinkin'" had been overplayed; I was sick of it. "My Last Name" is good, but kinda cheesey near the end.

Why I waited, I will never know.

Because, you see, this CD is country music as it's supposed to be--honky-tonkin' good fun. The first two singles are the only songs on here about the upside of love; everything else, with a couple of exceptions, ponders heartbreak and getting over it--two topics that have been sorely missed in country music.

Let's do a quick overview of the songs, you have a more specific idea of what you're gettin' into. "Bartenders, etc.," "How Am I Doin," and "I Bought the Shoes" are good-time honky-tonkers. "Wish It Would Break" deals with a man who can't get over his lost love; the following track, "Forget About You," is just the opposite--a man doing everything he can to get rid of a girl's memory, even if it means going insane.

"Is Anybody Lovin' You These Days" and "My Love Will Follow You" are pleas for rescue. "Whiskey Tears" is a song of a man drowning in the arms of a new lover who "doesn't have a heart". "Train Travellin" (Featuring the Del McCoury Band) is a bluegrass ode to times past; you don't have to be a fan of bluegrass (I'm not) to enjoy Bentley's haunting lyrics. "Distant Shore", a moder-day "He Stopped Loving Her Today," is a man who's willing to drink and drink away, knowing one day he'll get where even his lost love can't reach him.

Dierks Bentley is an amazing singer. His songwriting talent is pretty credible, too. He carries himself like a pro on this album--a collection of thirteen traditional country songs, sung by a honky-tonker who knows how to write and entertain. Dierks Bentley is going to be around a long, long time; buy his debut CD and discover why.

Dierks is the REAL deal! Country all the way.
You've heard "What was I thinkin'" and this CD includes the video for the song, but that's just the tip of the iceberg on this CD. This song includes instant classics like the lyrics in "Forget about you" which includes the lines: I heard that old jones song just the other day/'bout a man who took a broken heart to his grave/ but I'll be damned if a memory's gonna lay me down...
"Bartenders, etc." and "How Am I Doin'" are great honky tonk party songs that derserve a place in every jukebox in America and "I Bought the Shoes" is a shuffle in the great tradition of Ray Price and others. The CD ends with a great colaboration with the Del McCoury Band. Honestly, not a dud on the whole CD. I got this CD last week and have played it AT LEAST once a day since I got it.

No one-hit wonder

Dierks Bentley CD shows his ability to switch up from the novelty of his first hit "What Was I Thinkin'". There are songs about true love ("My Love Will Follow You"), heartache ("I Bought the Shoes") and drinkin' to forget both of the above("Whiskey Tears"). "Forget About You" is an excellent song about what one goes through to try and get over a failed relationship, "Bartenders, Etc." is a toe-tapper about that place where everybody knows your name, and "Train Travelin" is a delightful bluegrass number. There are also awesome ballads like "Distant Shore" and "My Last Name".

Produced by Brett Beavers (from Lee Ann Womack's band and writer of Brooks & Dunn's "My Heart is Lost to You"), this CD will rock you, haunt you, and make you smile - sometimes all at the same time.