When Dierks Bentley sits down to make a set list for a concert, he tries to keep things interesting.

In an interview with the Hartford Courant newspaper in Connecticut, Bentley explained why he doesn't just play the party songs.

"I have a set list full of songs about parties and girls, and I rely heavily on those songs during a live show," Bentley said.

"That's where a lot of the energy comes from, those party songs. But I think the most important songs in the live show are the ones in between those huge, uptempo hits, the ones that kind of glue the whole thing together."

You can't have a roller coaster that goes downhill the whole time, Bentley said, so you have to have some ups and downs.

"You have to find ways to take the audience on a ride," he said. "I know what those (hit) songs are going to do, that they are going to get the audience crazy. What can I do between those songs to make the ride different?"

Once the last encore's been played and Bentley retires from the road -- hopefully not any time soon -- he says he will probably live out his golden years out west somewhere.

"When this career is over, I'll be in Wyoming or Montana or back in Arizona," he said. "I love Nashville, and I plan to be here for many years to come, but I'm not looking for another job."