There should be a couple of surprise highlights in Bentley’s show. One is “American Girl,” the Tom Petty classic that he recently covered for a tribute album. Another will be an encore appearance by the Hot Country Knights.
Country star Dierks Bentley knows a little about making hits. His very first single, 2003’s “What Was I Thinkin’” was a country Number One, and he’s had a dozen more since then. But he says that how to write hits is still a mystery.
“I wish I could crack that code,” he says by phone from the Northwest, where he’s getting in some fishing between tour stops. “I remember reading an article in the New York Times, that was talking about Norah Jones and had a computer program explaining why her song was a hit. And I was thinking, ‘Great — Now we can take all the guesswork out of this.’ But of course the songs that you don’t expect to be a hit always are, and vice versa. I think I know when I have a song that will sell, and that country radio will like. But there’s a difference between that, and songs that really move the needle and fans will really connect with.
