CD Review – ‘Up on the Ridge’ – Dierks Bentley

14 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on CD Review – ‘Up on the Ridge’ – Dierks Bentley

‘Up on the Ridge’ – Dierks Bentley (Capitol Nashville – 2010)

Ever since first hearing of Dierks Bentley‘s plan to reconnect with his Station Inn days, I have been looking forward to his bluegrass-influenced album. Especially after the mostly unimpressive ‘Feel that Fire’, I really hoped choosing a creative path, rather than a commercial one, would pay off for Dierks. And it has. ‘Up on the Ridge’ does not have one song that sounds anything like the sonically narrow material country radio has been picking its hits from so it is a risk, but it houses such strong cuts I expect this record to be the one to break the current format mold.

As the lead-off single and title track demonstrated, bluegrass and country can co-exist in one song. While the lyrics may not be ground-breaking, the innovative production is. Furthermore, in the past, Dierks has often laid down vocal tracks that sounded uninspired, even downright monotonous, but on this album he is clearly far more comfortable.

A stroke of brilliance was the addition of many guest players without whom this record may not have worked as well as it does. The Punch Brothers really lift both ‘Senor’ and ‘Rovin’ Gambler’ to a greater height. Lover’s plea ‘Draw Me a Map’ features the ever-wonderful Alison Krauss and the wicked break-up song ‘You’re Dead to Me’ features Tim O’Brien, who also gets co-writer credit. From the country side of the fence, Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson add their distinctive voices to the struggle for redemption in ‘Bad Angel’. 

In this collection there are only two songs I do not care for. ‘Fallin’ for You’ lacks energy and the whiny vocals don’t make for pleasant listening which is a shame as the track has an interesting melody. And despite Del McCoury‘s great voice making light work of all the difficult notes, the U2 cover ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’ has already been kicked off my iPod. I cannot really put my finger on why the song doesn’t work for me but I found it even more annoying than the original.  

The album closes with the strong trio of the sweet‘Love Grows Wild’, ‘Bottle to the Bottom’, and ‘Down in the Mine’. The first is my personal favorite (and possible radio hit), the second a strong Kris Kristofferson cover featuring the man himself and the last is a quieter, darker tune of hardship in the mines.

With ‘Up on the Ridge’, Dierks has created a very fine hybrid album with country, bluegrass and americana elements blended together by a refreshing and progressive production. By following his creative heart he has delivered something truly unique. And while, with most of his career still before him, I would not want this to be his career-best, it will take some doing to raise the standard set by ‘Up on the Ridge’ which is sure to turn up in many ‘top 10 albums of 2010’ lists.

Disclosure of material connection for this review. 
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Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter

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