Dierks Bentley photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

In the years before he got married, Dierks Bentley usually maintained the busiest road schedule of any country hitmaker. He did plenty of partying, but he also made a personal connection with his fan base, and that’s one of the most important elements of his career.

“Everything we do revolves around the road and playing live shows and being in front of people, and that’s why we’re out so much on the road,” he told the national radio show GAC Nights: Live From Nashville. “I really feel like I’ve met everyone who’s bought one of my records. I truly feel like that. We spend so much time out there. We have such hardcore fans that sing along to every song off the record and know the whole new record by heart. I feel really blessed to get out there every night and have them get up and sing these songs back to me.”

Dierks is currently on Brad Paisley’s American Saturday Night Tour with Jimmy Wayne. They play Texas this weekend, hitting Houston on Friday and Dallas on Saturday.