Dierks Bentley and Lanco Kick Off Mountain High Tour By Volunteering at a Food Bank
As a headliner, Dierks Bentley puts a lot of thought into the experience his opening acts have on the road with him, in part because his days opening for Kenny Chesney made such an impression on him.
"I want these guys to walk away thinking, 'We've never had more fun opening for anybody!'" Bentley said during a press conference to announce Brothers Osborne and Lanco as opening acts for his upcoming 2018 Mountain High Tour. "They're all going to be headlining their own thing very, very soon, so I want this to be the tour that they talk about the way I talk about touring with Kenny."
While there will be plenty of time to party and enjoy the spotlight once the three acts get out on the road together, Bentley opted to kick off the tour with a bonding activity that was memorable in a different kind of way: Joined by Lanco, he spent Monday morning (May 14) packaging food for those living with hunger in middle Tennessee.
In partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, Bentley and the guys of Lanco packaged over 10,000 pounds of food, which will supply over 8,000 meals to needy families. The initiative was part of the Hunger Free Summer Campaign, which focuses on helping families during the summer, when they don't have access to school lunches.
"Typically, when a tour is about to launch, you get your band and your crew together for some drinks before the run, but I wanted to make sure we did something different this year," Bentley explains. "We got everyone together to really start off with what it's all about for me right now...gratitude."
The Mountain High Tour will begin on May 17 in Columbia, Md., and is set to include more than 40 stops. Bentley also announced this week that he will return to Nashville to perform The Mountain in its entirety at the Ryman Auditorium on June 7, in advance of the album's release on June 8.
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