Dierks Bentley might have his name on a three-story bar on Nashville’s Lower Broadway, but he can’t resist the pull of Robert’s Western World, Music City’s last legit honky-tonk. For the video for “Cowboy Boots,” a track off his upcoming album Gravel & Gold, the country singer and his duet partner Ashley McBryde take the stage at Robert’s — a celebrated haunt where Bentley has performed, drank, and even left behind his credit card.
Originally opened in the early Nineties as “Robert’s Rhinestone Western Wear,” a boot and clothing shop, Robert’s transformed into a popular live-music venue, led by traditional bands like BR5-49. Today it’s among the last bastions of classic country music in Nashville’s tourist district, where patrons tip the players for songs by Marty Robbins and Merle Haggard, not Bon Jovi and Journey. The boots that used to be for sale still line the wall and make a perfect backdrop for Bentley and McBryde’s performance.
“They’ll make you feel ten feet tall and cool like Chris LeDoux/that’s why thеy call ’em cowboy boots,” Bentley sings, keeping the focus on the “boy” of the title. But when McBryde joins in, she flips the narrative to prove the boots fit a woman just as well. “I had to learn the hard way,” Bentley sings later, “that cowgirls wear ’em too.”
“When I first really fell in love with country music, Jim Beam and cowboy boots came along for the ride,” Bentley said in a statement. “I’ve had a few pair of boots over the years, many requiring duct tape at times. But, they’ve been my consistent and steady companion through this crazy ride.”
Gravel & Gold, Bentley’s 10th studio album and the follow-up to his LP The Mountain, will be released Feb. 24. In the meantime, Bentley has been popping up onstage at another of his favorite Nashville venues, the Station Inn, to play bluegrass sets for surprised fans.
Robert’s Western World has live music seven days a week, and as general manager Emily Ann Jones told Rolling Stone last year, refuses to change with the times. When a food rep attempted to upgrade the bar’s ketchup to a trendy new brand, Jones was aghast. “I was like, ‘Oh no, what is this?’” she said. “We can’t do fancy ketchup, we’re Robert’s!”