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Dierks Bentley is a kid at heart when it comes to celebrating Christmas with his family. He and wife Cassidy Black share three children: Evie, Jordan and Knox.
Bentley shared that Christmas has never lost its true meaning for him, but he felt a renewed “Christmas spirit” after starting his family and establishing new traditions with his kids (in addition to continuing some from his own childhood). It’s also a double celebration for the Bentley family, with the singer’s middle child, Jordan’s, birthday falling on Christmas Day.
“You know, Christmas didn’t lose any of its real meaning, as far as its religious meaning with Jesus’ birthday. But as far as like the whole tree and all of the Christmas spirit stuff, the secular stuff, it just kind of goes away to be honest. But then you have a family, and all of a sudden, it’s like I’m all Clark Griswold out there decorating the tree, putting lights up around the house, you know. So, all of those things that you did as a kid and appreciated as a kid, you get a chance to do over again when you have kids, because you kinda become one again. …It’s tough kind of for Jordan because her birthday IS on Christmas, so it’s kind of one of those things where we try to give her an extra present or two. It’s kind of tough to share your birthday with Jesus. You can get a little overshadowed on that one, but she’s good about it, but we just tell her, ‘All these Christmas trees and lights, these are all for you.’”
Bentley grew up in Arizona, where he never had a white Christmas, but always celebrated with friends and family with a big desert cookout. He also always loved driving around to see everyone’s Christmas lights, a tradition he still holds with his family in Nashville, Tennessee.
“One of our favorite Christmas traditions is just driving around looking at lights. Love seeing all the lights back in the valley, back in Arizona and Phoenix where I’m from, and that tradition is carried over to here for me in Nashville,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of lights up on the house. We’ve got a Grinch in the front yard, as well as a talking Santa, so new traditions here in Nashville and some old ones, as well.”