Payin’ tribute to the late Tom Petty.
After teasing a post of him in the studio recording “American Girl” to his Instagram account yesterday evening, Dierks Bentley went on to surprise-drop the track to all streaming platforms just hours later.
“American Girl” was written solely by Petty and released in 1976 off of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ debut self-titled album. Although it did not originally chart in the States, it is now considered as one of the band’s most popular songs of all time.
Of the song, Bentley shares, “Petty’s southern roots shined through across his songwriting and storytelling. He might not have ever been considered as Country but you can’t go into a bar in Nashville without hearing this song. It is one of the greatest songs in a life’s work of great American songs.“
Bentley’s re-imagination of “American Girl” is a banjo-forward festival of swirling fiddles, right hand organ figures and mandolin runs complimented by a pre-bridge breakdown that reinforces the stop/start nature of the moment.
The song is apart of the forthcoming Tom Petty tribute album, “Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty,” to be released by Big Machine Records in partnership with the Tom Petty Estate on May 31st. It is also being sent to country radio as Dierks’ next single.
Dierks also recently added a hefty amount of summer dates to his Gravel & Gold Tour. Set to kick off in Fort Worth, Texas on June 7th, the tour’s opening acts will include Chase Rice and Lee Brice for direct support, as well as Zach Top, Ella Langley, Randy Rogers Band, Tanner Usrey, Kaitlin Butts, Tyler Braden and more at select dates. You can view them here.
Listen to Dierks Bentley’s cover of American Girl, below: