A 'Long Trip' for Dierks

"You think you've headlined, but you're not really headlining till you carry your own speakers," says Dierks Bentley. After averaging more than 200 dates a year for the past three years, the singer of country hits with such roadworthy titles as Every Mile a Memory and Lot of Leavin' Left to Do started really headlining last month.

He's taking two buses and two semis out on his Locked & Loaded tour, playing primarily cut-down and half-house arenas. "Basically," says Bentley, "we show up to a building and say, 'We need a key to get in, and we need a power source. We'll do everything else.'" Bentley, 30, is developing a reputation as one of country music's hardest-working -- and most promising -- young artists. Last year, he won the Country Music Association's star-making Horizon award. Tonight, he's up for male vocalist. He's the dark horse, but it puts him on ...