Dierks Bently: Better Believer

I haven’t been listening to a great deal of country music as I had in the 1990s, but I heard a song two weeks ago that I cannot get out of my head. I was listening to a rebroadcast of West Virginia Public Radio’s Mountain Stage and I heard Dierks Bentley perform “Better Believer.” The song fits my weekly Spiritual Sunday theme, as it speaks of how we all are greatly blessed – so much we should feel guilty about not relying on faith enough and not doing enough with our lives.

The Mountain Stage performance was recorded on February 1, 2009 – just two days before the release of the album “Feel the Fire.” “Better Believer” was slated to be a single release; however, three other songs were picked by Capitol Nashville instead.

The album has done exceedingly well as it charted at 1 on Billboard’s Country Album charts and #3 on the Top 200 LPs. The Chicago Tribune named it their number one country album for 2009. The first two singles from the CD, “Feel the Fire” and “Sideways” both charted at #1 on the country charts, while the third single, “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes” peaked at #2. It is obvious that Capitol’s A&R Department knew what they were doing.

Notwithstanding its failure to be picked as a single, I like “Better Believer” and its message. During this last couple of weeks, I have been working on an arrangement of the tune for a future performance – wish me luck.