Dierks Bentley grew up in Phoenix listening to country and classic rock. Little did he know, and neither could he imagine, that he would one day have a chance to open for country legend George Strait.

The tour, featuring Strait with special guests Bentley and Kellie Coffey, will make a stop in Ames at Hilton Coliseum Saturday.

Bentley says his love of music goes back to his childhood, beginning when a friend first introduced him to the electric guitar. At age 19, he left for Nashville, Tenn., to pursue a life in country music.

“About 17, when I was a junior, I really started to get into music,” he says. “Then, the pull was strong, and I didn’t really have a lot of talent when I went down there.”

Bentley says he had the most difficulty while trying to sing and play guitar simultaneously.

“I love country music, and I love playing the guitar, but as far as putting the two together and singing — I didn’t have that going,” he says.

Bentley says his parents were very supportive of him and credits them as being one of the reasons he succeeded.

“They would come and watch us play,” he says. “We’d play at the little bars and pubs. The tip jar would get passed around, and my mom would put 20 bucks in there.”

Bentley says his parents have even made trips to some of the bigger festivals he has played in order to show their support.

“I’ve had a couple of chances to actually bring them up on stage at some of the bigger festivals we’ve played,” he says. “We had a couple of shows with Brooks and Dunn, and we got my parents up on stage.”

Bentley says he worked various day jobs on his way to fulfilling his dream, including compiling old country music video footage for The Nashville Network. At the same time, Bentley says, he would record demos of his songs and play his music in local venues.

Bentley says he is honored to be touring with George Strait and is proud of his musical achievements.

“I’m like a kid in a candy store. I’m trying to let it sink in. It’s a huge honor, first and foremost, because he’s the king of country music, and we’re going to have a chance to hang with him for half an hour a night,” he says.

“It’s cool for us as a band, because we feel like we deserve to be here, and we’re looking forward to seeing how we do on a bigger stage and play for more people,” he said.

Bentley says Strait asked him to join the tour because Strait heard Bentley’s single and knew his reputation for putting on good live shows.

“I think he’s looking for somebody who will get things going and get the crowd fired up,” Bentley says. “We kept talking to him and my manager kept playing him my music. I think he heard my single and heard our live shows have a lot of energy.”

While working a series of odd jobs, Bentley says bluegrass music was a big help to him financially.

“I’m a fan, first and foremost,” Bentley says.

“But it has provided me with a good source of income over the last three years. When you play bluegrass, all you need to put on another band is a couple of pickers and a small PA system with one microphone. You can go out and play for 500 bucks. Everybody makes a hundred bucks and it helps.”

Bentley says he loves playing and is proud of what he has done, but would have changed some things, particularly on his latest release.

“If I could change something on this album, I would have only cut 10 songs so I could put some other songs on the next album,” he says. “I feel like I put 13 songs on this record, and they are all singles in my mind.

“Nowadays, the way radio works, it takes longer for a song to get on the charts. If you cut out three songs off a record, that’s about a year and a half, and you’ve got to kind of get on to the next record because people want to hear more stuff.”