Dierks Bentley’s boots are a little weathered. The toes are scuffed, and the leather long ago began to crack. One of the seams on the right side has split, and Bentley’s sock peeks through. He’s duct taped the back of the left boot together, but the even the tape is beginning to peel. Though he’ll never part with them, he could probably use a new pair.
But it wasn’t new shoes on the “I Hold On” singer’s mind when he and a group of friends and artists kicked their bikes into gear and rode down to Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater Sunday afternoon. It was the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital that was in Bentley’s thoughts, marking yesterday the tenth year of his annual Miles and Music for Kids event. Bentley raised around $30,000 in the event’s first year, and around $370,000 when he hosted it at Nashville’s Riverfront Park last year – last night, he presented a check for $636,479 to The Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital.
The show featured a headlining performance by Bentley, as well as shorter sets from Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell, Canaan Smith, The Cadillac Three, and Brooke Eden. While some artists joined Bentley for the motorcycle ride into town, others, such as Rhett, refrained. “Gosh, no,” he said, laughing. “The only motorcycle I’ve ever been on was Brantley Gilbert’s and I knocked it over. So I decided from that point forward that if I’m gonna do it I need to take lessons before I ride.”
It’s a big week for both Rhett and Bentley – the former is nominated for the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year, while the latter could take home Male Vocalist of the Year – but Bentley’s focus yesterday was with the fans and the opportunity they afford him to give back. “The reward really lies in getting a chance to tour and being in front of new audiences every night and do things like this,” he said before the event. “A trophy would be awesome – to get recognized by your peers and all that – but I get to go out there and be recognized every night by fans that are here for us to sing for them. My cup’s pretty overflowing as it is.”
This year marked the largest attendance in the event’s history, selling out Nashville’s brand new Ascend Amphitheater in minutes. Bentley’s Miles and Music for Kids events have raised around three million dollars over the past ten years, contributing to Vanderbilt’s plans to add an additional four floors to the hospital, a 130 million dollar project. “[Three million] sounds like a big number on its own, but when you put it next to 130 it sounds kinda small,” Bentley says. “But everything matters, everything counts.”
It was a stellar set of performances from each of the artists who echoed the the sentiment that both on and off stage, every bit matters. “He’s just as good of a guy as he is an artist,” Swindell notes of Bentley. “I’m just excited to be able to help.”
