| Up on the Ridge | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 8, 2010 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 43:32 | |||
| Label | Capitol Records Nashville | |||
| Producer | Jon Randall | |||
| Dierks Bentley chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Up on the Ridge | ||||
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Up on the Ridge is the fifth studio album by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released on June 8, 2010 by Capitol Records Nashville. The album produced two singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with the title track and "Draw Me a Map".
Unlike Bentley's previous albums, this album is a bluegrass-influenced album, mixed with country and Americana. [1] It features many collaborations, including The Del McCoury Band, Alison Krauss, Chris Thile, and Miranda Lambert. Via his website, Bentley explained the reason behind Up on the Ridge, saying: “This album won’t come as a surprise to my hard core fans, they've asked me: ‘when are you going to make a bluegrass record?’ And I was just waiting for the right time. I didn't want this to be ‘Dierks Bentley and friends’ or a ‘Dierks does bluegrass’ kind of album. I wanted each song to have something special about it, and in the end I think each song really does have its own thing going on.” [2]
In an interview with Billboard Magazine, Capitol Records Nashville president and CEO Mike Dungan commented on Up on the Ridge saying that "The album was supposed to be a side project, but it's grown into something much more....He had a real sense of direction and made a vehicle for people to hopefully discover this music". [3]
The title track is the first single from this album and was sent to radio stations on April 12, [2] and debuted at #59 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of May 1, 2010. The song later peaked at #21 in late July 2010, making it the first single of Bentley's career to miss the Top 20 and the second to miss the Top 10, after My Last Name (from his self titled debut album) at No.17 in 2003. The second single from the album, "Draw Me a Map," was released to country radio on August 23, 2010. It was even less successful than the title track, with a peak of #33, becoming his third-lowest charting single to date, after "What the Hell Did I Say" from his album Black, which peaked at #35 on Hot Country Songs and #46 on the Country Airplay chart.
To promote his new album, Bentley started his Up on the Ridge Tour. The 24 show tour began in Portland, Oregon on April 21, 2010, and it continued through May 22, 2010, where it ended in Nashville, Tennessee. [4]
Bentley also premiered the title song, and first single, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 27, 2010. [5]
The album debuted at number nine on the U.S. Billboard 200, number two on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and at number one on the U.S. Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart, selling nearly 39,000 copies in its first week of release. [6] As of February 12, 2012, the album sold 244,000 copies in the US. [7]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [8] |
| American Songwriter |  [9] |
| Billboard | (favorable) [10] |
| Country Weekly | [11] |
| PopMatters |   [12] |
| Rolling Stone | [13] |
| Slant Magazine | [14] |
| Engine 145 | [15] |
Upon its release, Up on the Ridge received very positive reviews from most music critics. [16] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 7 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". [16]
Jessica Phillips with Country Weekly magazine rated the album four and a half stars out of five. She praised the sound of the album, saying that it "is built on a bedrock of bluegrass sensibility, but is colored by Dierks' various country, rock and folk influences." [11] Jonathan Keefe with Slant Magazine also rated the album with four and a half out of five stars, commenting that the album's "overall aesthetic... proves Bentley's deep respect for— and his legitimate, intuitive understanding of— country traditions, even as he uses those traditions in forward-thinking, progressive ways." [14]
Stephen Thomas Erlewine with Allmusic gave it four stars, and said it wasn't a traditional bluegrass album, saying "The very presence of a U2 song suggests that this is not a traditional bluegrass album, either in its content -- or in its approach, as he sometimes puts picking in the backseat, letting the instruments strum sweetly as he croons." [8] Wade Jessen with Billboard called it "a thrilling ride from start to finish" and called the track "Down in the Mine" "the standout track". [10]
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Country Music Association Awards | Album of the Year | Nominated |
| 2011 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Album | Nominated |
| Academy of Country Music Awards | Album of the Year | Nominated |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Up on the Ridge" | Dierks Bentley, Angelo Petraglia | 3:34 |
| 2. | "Fallin' for You" | Shawn Camp, Paul Kennerley | 3:44 |
| 3. | "Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)" (with The Punch Brothers) | Bob Dylan | 3:24 |
| 4. | "Rovin' Gambler" (with The Punch Brothers) | Traditional | 2:34 |
| 5. | "Draw Me a Map" | Bentley, Randall | 3:31 |
| 6. | "Bad Angel" (featuring Miranda Lambert & Jamey Johnson) | Verlon Thompson, Suzi Ragsdale | 4:04 |
| 7. | "Fiddlin' Around" | John Scott Sherrill, Camp, Jeff Austin | 3:08 |
| 8. | "You're Dead to Me" | Bentley, Randall, Tim O'Brien | 3:19 |
| 9. | "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (with The Punch Brothers featuring Del McCoury) | Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, Dave Evans, Paul David Hewson | 4:09 |
| 10. | "Love Grows Wild" | Julie Miller, Buddy Miller | 2:48 |
| 11. | "Bottle to the Bottom" (featuring Kris Kristofferson) | Kristofferson | 4:16 |
| 12. | "Down in the Mine" | Bentley, Randall | 5:01 |
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| Chart (2010) | Peak position | Year-end 2010 |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 | 9 [17] | 197 [18] |
| US Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums | 1 [17] | 1 [19] |
| US Billboard Top Country Albums | 2 [17] | 39 [20] |
Frederick Dierks Bentley is an American country music singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to Capitol Nashville and released his eponymous debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's Modern Day Drifter, are certified Platinum in the United States, and his third album, 2006's Long Trip Alone, is certified Gold. It was followed in mid-2008 by a greatest hits package. His fourth album, Feel That Fire, was released in February 2009, and a bluegrass album, Up on the Ridge, was released on June 8, 2010. His sixth album, Home, followed in February 2012, as did a seventh one, Riser, in 2014. Bentley's eighth album, titled Black, was released in May 2016, and his ninth, The Mountain, was released in June 2018. His tenth studio album, Gravel & Gold, was released in February 2023.
Ronald Delano McCoury, known as Ronnie McCoury, is an American mandolin player, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band and the Travelin' McCourys.
"Murder on Music Row" is a 1999 song written by Larry Cordle and Larry Shell, and originally recorded by American bluegrass group Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, as the title track from their album Murder on Music Row. It gained fame soon after that when it was recorded as a duet between American country music artists George Strait and Alan Jackson. The song laments the rise of country pop and the accompanying decline of the traditional country music sound; it refers to Music Row, an area in Nashville, Tennessee considered the epicenter of the country music industry.
Dierks Bentley is the debut studio album by American country music artist of the same name. It was released on August 19, 2003 by Capitol Records Nashville. It produced three singles with "What Was I Thinkin'", "My Last Name", and "How Am I Doin'". The first one became Bentley's first number one hit on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The album sold 1.1 million copies in the US.
Modern Day Drifter is the second studio album by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released on May 10, 2005 by Capitol Records Nashville. The album produced three singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with the number 3 hit "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do" and the number ones "Come a Little Closer" and "Settle for a Slowdown". The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States.
Long Trip Alone is the third studio album by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released October 17, 2006 by Capitol Records Nashville. The album produced four singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts: "Every Mile a Memory", the title track, "Free and Easy ", and "Trying to Stop Your Leaving". All singles went to the Top 10 on the chart. "Ever Mile a Memory" and "Free and Easy " both reached number one, the title track peaked at number 10, and "Trying to Stop Your Leaving" went to number 5. Brett Beavers, Bentley’s producer, helped Bentley co-write all of the songs on the album. The album peaked at number 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and at number 1 on the Top Country Albums chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Jon Randall Stewart is an American producer, songwriter, and musician.
American country music singer and songwriter Dierks Bentley has released ten studio albums, one live album, one compilation album, and 33 singles. In 2003, Capitol Nashville released Bentley's self-titled debut album. The album's first single, "What Was I Thinkin'", reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, his highest-charting single there to date. Bentley then released two studio albums in 2005 and 2006 and produced several number 1 hits on Billboard Hot Country Songs. In 2007, Bentley released a live concert DVD, Live and Loud at the Fillmore, which was recorded in Denver, Colorado.
Greatest Hits/Every Mile a Memory 2003–2008 is the first compilation album by American country music singer Dierks Bentley. It was released May 6, 2008 via Capitol Records Nashville. His fourth album from that label, the album includes his ten singles from his first three studio albums: his 2003 self-titled debut, 2005's Modern Day Drifter, and 2006's Long Trip Alone. Two newly-recorded songs were also added to this compilation; those were "Sweet and Wild" and "With the Band". The CD even includes live recordings of the album cuts "So So Long" and "Wish It Would Break" as well as live renditions of his singles "Come a Little Closer", "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do", and "Free and Easy ".
Feel That Fire is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released on February 3, 2009, by Capitol Records Nashville. The album produced three singles with the title track, "Sideways", and "I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes". The first two reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, while the third peaked at number 2. The album reached number one the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart. It was also certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and has even sold over 327,000 copies as of 2010.
"My Last Name" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released in October 2003 as the second single from his self-titled debut album. The song peaked at number 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming Bentley's first single to miss the Top 10 and his only one until 2010's "Up on the Ridge", which peaked at number 21. Bentley wrote this song with Harley Allen.
Haywire is the fourth studio album by American country music singer Josh Turner. It was released on February 9, 2010 via MCA Nashville and debuted at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, and number two on the Top Country Albums, selling 85,000 copies. The album produced three singles, including the Number One hits "Why Don't We Just Dance" and "All Over Me." As with his previous three studio albums, Turner worked with producer Frank Rogers.
"Up on the Ridge" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released on April 12, 2010 as the lead-off single and title track from his album of the same name. The song peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Bentley wrote this song with Angelo Petraglia.
"Am I the Only One" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released in March 2011 as the sixteenth single release of his career and the first from his 2012 album Home. The song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in September 2011.
"Draw Me a Map" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released in August 2010 as the fifteenth single release of his career and the second and final single from his 2010 bluegrass album Up on the Ridge. The song was written by Bentley and Jon Randall.
Home is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released on February 7, 2012 by Capitol Records Nashville. The album produced four singles—"Am I the Only One", the "title track", "5-1-5-0", and "Tip It On Back"—on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart between 2011 and 2012, with the first three of those reaching number one.
Riser is the seventh studio album by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released on February 25, 2014 by Capitol Records Nashville. It was debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200, becoming his seventh top ten album. The album was nominated for Best Country Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.
Black is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released on May 27, 2016 by Capitol Records Nashville. Bentley explained that this is a record about relationships, and follows the same person throughout the track listing going through them. The lead single, "Somewhere on a Beach", was released to radio on January 18, 2016. The album's second single, "Different for Girls", was released to country radio on June 6, 2016. The album's title track was released to country radio as the third single on November 14, 2016. "What the Hell Did I Say" was sent to country radio as the albums fourth and final single June 26, 2017.
Billy Strings is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. His album Home won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2021.
The Mountain is the ninth studio album by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released on June 8, 2018 by Capitol Records Nashville. It features the singles "Woman, Amen", "Burning Man" and "Living". The album was co-produced by Jon Randall and Ross Copperman.
