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Joe Nichols Recalls Dierks Bentley “Sweating” As Merle Haggard Smoked A TON On His Leased Tour Bus: “There’s Nothing We Can Do About This”
A CLASSIC Merle story.
You probably recognize Joe Nichols’ name from some of his early 2000s hits like “Brokenheartsville,” “She Only Smokes When She Drinks” and “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,” and he’s continued to put out great music over the years, although it’s unlikely you’ll hear his newer stuff on the radio these days.
And that’s more than alright with him…
Joe appeared on the Drifting Cowboy Podcast this week, where he talked about getting his start in country music, how he got some of his early record deals, and what it was like being a struggling artist in Nashville. He also told some fascinating stories about keeping his faith in the music business and getting sober, but possibly the funniest one involved the late, great Merle Haggard.
Nichols recalled playing a show with Dierks Bentley, who was the only one there that day that had a tour bus. Merle and Nichols were staying at a hotel after flying in, and some of the others had driven there, so Dierks invited them to come hang out on his bus before the concert started.
Prior to that, Merle and Nichols had been listening to music in Merle’s car, which was an insane experience in and of itself, I’m sure:
“His tour manager came and knocked on the window, the only guy there who had a bus there at this event was Dierks Bentley. You know, I flew out and I was at the hotel, and several of the guys drove down and everything, and so Dierks was actually out there touring in California.
So Frank, Merle’s tour manager, said ‘Dierks has invited everybody to come hang on his bus.’ So we’re not out here just kind of meandering around, but this is before the show. We’re like yeah, let’s go hang out with Dierks. I knew Dierks a little bit.”
They went onto the bus, and Nichols recalled Merle walking in “like he owned the place,” finding a spot to sit right in the captain’s chair.
They listened to him tell some amazing stories, but at one point, Merle whipped out a Crown Royal bag (you know, those purple drawstring bags) full of weed out of one pocket and a pipe out of the other, and there was one small problem… at this time, Dierks was leasing his bus, so you weren’t supposed to have anything like that on it or they would charge a lot in cleaning fees:
“Merle, me, Ray Benson, we all climb up on Dierks’ bus, and Merle just went straight for the captain‘s chair. Went straight over to the table like he owned the place. And me and Dierks are kind of the new kids, and we just sat in the front lounge like a couple of toddlers.
And Merle sat down and Ray sat down, and Ray’s 6’8” or something, and they started talking about this and that, Bob Wills. And Merle pulls out of his pocket this big Crown Royal bag, full of weed. A big like that, I’m like, wow. I didn’t think you could do that. And then out of this pocket, he pulls out this big pipe and he just started packing this pipe right there as he’s telling stories.
And at that time, Dierks was leasing his bus, and you’re not allowed to have any of that stuff on a bus when you lease. They’ll fine you for all the cleaning and everything like that.”
Of course, Dierks starts sweating a little bit, trying to think of a way to tell the living legend himself Merle Haggard he couldn’t do that… obviously, neither one of them ended up saying anything, because who is going to tell Merle he can’t smoke weed on a tour bus? Yeah, no one….
So Dierks took the L that day, and Nichols says they were both “extremely stoned” and really had no idea how they were going to play a show:
“So Merle lights this big pipe up, smoke is going everywhere, and Dierks has kind of got sweat coming down his brow. How do I tell him, you know, ‘hey, can you not do that?’ Just let it go. There’s nothing we can do about this. It was awesome.
We sat there and listened to some amazing stories, and got extremely stoned just sitting in the room. We were like, oh no, we’ve gotta we gotta go play a show and they’re just gonna have fun. And we’re over here like, am I talking? Am I Okay? Now we get to go onstage. But that was a fun deal, man. What a night that was.”
I mean, those cleaning fees can get pricey real quick, but I think they made the right call and it certainly made for a great story so many years later.
You can watch Joe tell the full story below, it’s a great one:
The post Joe Nichols Recalls Dierks Bentley “Sweating” As Merle Haggard Smoked A TON On His Leased Tour Bus: “There’s Nothing We Can Do About This” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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