Earlier this year, Dierks Bentley cut a bluegrass version of "American Girl" for Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty. The track was one of the highlights of the album. Tonight, he assembled a bluegrass dream team to bring the song to life at the CMA Awards. Bentley enlisted Molly Tuttle (guitar), Sierra Hull (mandolin), and Bronwyn Keith-Hines (fiddle) to round out the bluegrass cover of Petty's classic tune.
This was more than a powerful performance by a great group of musicians. This was Bentley tipping his hat to the bluegrass world and introducing some of the genre's finest players to the wide audience offered by the CMA Awards. He would have been hard-pressed to pick a more talented lineup. Tuttle is one of the best bluegrass pickers in the world today. Hull could teach a masterclass on mandolin in her sleep. Keith-Hynes has proven time and again that she's one of the best fiddlers in the game. Together, they combined traditional sounds and Petty's writing to create something truly unforgettable.
[RELATED: Dierks Bentley Turns Tom Petty's "American Girl" Bluegrass on Forthcoming Tribute Album]
Dierks Bentley was one of many country artists who signed on to pay tribute to Tom Petty on Petty Country earlier this year. "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," Bentley said in a statement upon the song's release. "It is one of the greatest songs in a life's work of great American songs," he added.
"The spirit of this woman, the idea of such relentless hope -- and disappointment -- ignites such a spark. Jon Randall and I were driven to make that feeling of American roots stand tall," he said of the thought process behind his rendition of the tune. Randall played guitar on the track and served as producer for the recording session.