On January 30 fans will be able to share in the recording process of Dierks upcoming album. A live studio cam will be installed and available for viewing at www.dierks.com.

I thought it would be cool to let the fans be part of the whole experience, so we’re going to let them watch as it all goes down.

This is Dierks 6th studio album. The first single is set to be released in the Spring and the album following closely behind.

Press Release – Nashville, Tenn – Multiple GRAMMY nominee and chart-topping country music star Dierks Bentley is slated to headline the 2011 JÄGERMEISTER COUNTRY TOUR kicking off March 17. The 30-city tour runs through mid-May and will feature special guest Columbia Nashville road warrior Josh Thompson and brand new A&M/Octone duo Miss Willie Brown. Each concert will also feature a local Jägermeister sponsored country act.

Pre-sale tickets are available to fan club members through www.dierks.com, while the general public will be able to purchase tickets beginning Jan. 21 and Jan. 28 through Ticketmaster. The remaining cities will go on sale over the coming weeks.

“It’s a good thing we’ve got a video crew on the road with us capturing everything that goes down,” laughed Bentley. “Putting my band, Josh Thompson, the Miss Willie Brown girls and a few thousand fans in a Jägermeister sponsored room with loud country music sounds like a pretty solid recipe for a great night!”

Press Release – Nashville, TN – As 2010 comes to a close, country music maverick Dierks Bentley capped off a daring year with three GRAMMY nominations for Best Country Album for his critically acclaimed UP ON THE RIDGE and two nominations in the Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for the album’s “Bad Angel” featuring Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson and “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” featuring Del McCoury and Punch Brothers.

To watch a video performance of “Bad Angel” with Lambert and Johnson, click here: http://www.cmt.com/videos/dierks-bentley/558158/bad-angel.jhtml

Since announcing this Spring that his fifth Capitol Nashville studio project would be steeped in the bluegrass and roots music that moved him to become a country musician in the first place, Bentley has garnered the support of fans, media and industry peers alike. UP ON THE RIDGE has been named one of iTunes “Best Albums Of the Year” and one of Amazon’s “Top 10 Country Albums of the Year.” It also earned glowing praise from critics who said the album was “the best country recording we’ll hear in 2010” (Washington Post), “timeless” (NPR) and “shocking in its freshness” (Boston Globe).

Lady Antebellum comes up huge with six Grammy Award nominations. Lady A is up for:

Album of the Year for "Need You Now"
Record of the Year for "Need You Now"
Song of the Year for "Need You Now"
Best Country Album for "Need You Now"
Best Country Song for "Need You Now"
Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Need You Now."

Here's the full list of nominations for country artists:

Best Female Country Vocal Performance
Satisfied - Jewel
The House That Built Me - Miranda Lambert
Swingin' - LeAnn Rimes
Temporary Home - Carrie Underwood
I'd Love To Be Your Last - Gretchen Wilson

Last night the stars came out in Nashville for what is billed as Country's Biggest Night at the 44th Annual CMA Awards. Overall, they put on an entertaining show with some great performances, but there were also some that missed the mark a bit.

Carrie Underwood opened up the show on a high note, belting out her hit "Songs Like This" with Brad Paisley on guitar and Keith Urban on banjo. The song set a nice pace for the evening and flowed well into Carrie and Brad doing their opening dialog talking about, and joking about, the happenings of 2010. The pair has some great chemistry and really do a good job with their hosting duties.

My two favorite performances of the night came from Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift. Miranda did her best to channel the spirit of the Ramones during her performance of "That's The Way The World Goes Round," but yet still came through with that strong country twang and charm that she has. The song just absolutely rocks in a good way.

Nice article on the examiner.com website where Dierks Bently talks about making his latest album "Up on the Ridge," a heavily bluegrass influenced record. He recalled going to Nashville's famed Station Inn every week and catching the great bluegrass performers there. When he decided to make this record he felt like it was far enough out of the mainstream that it allowed him more freedom.

"I went into it with no expectations, that's what freed me up to make the kind of record we wanted to make. So, the back side of that to have country radio play the song, see the video on CMT and GAC, and then to be recognized by the CMA for making a record that leans on the bluegrass side of things, there's not a lot of words for it.

While he is blown away by the reaction to the record, he still doesn't seem to have much faith that it can take the top Album honor on the CMAs.