Dierks Bentley Covers “American Girl” Using Tom Petty’s Actual Guitar

Dierks Bentley released a music video for his country rendition of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ classic song “American Girl.”

In a recent music video release, Bentley captivates audiences while strumming Petty’s very own Rickenbacker guitar, infusing new life into the beloved track.

The cover, a part of the upcoming tribute album Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty, showcases Bentley’s profound respect for Petty’s musical legacy. “Holding an instrument that carries so much musical history and significance was surreal,” Bentley shared in a press release. “Tom Petty’s lyrics and delivery were a huge part of what made his music so impactful.”

The Original “American Girl”

Tom Petty’s “American Girl” became a beloved song that he regularly performed live. The song was included on the Heartbreakers’ debut album.

“I was living in an apartment where I was right by the freeway,” Petty would later recall for 2005’s Conversations With Tom Petty. “And the cars would go by. In Encino, near Leon [Russell’s] house. And I remember thinking that that sounded like the ocean to me. That was my ocean. My Malibu. I think that must have inspired the lyric. … I would have written that on my Gibson Dove, because I wrote everything on that then. It was the only guitar I had.”

Not long after writing “American Girl,” Petty traded in his Rickenbacker for the Gibson Dove. However, he later returned to using Rickenbacker guitars, particularly a 12-string model, for his solo work, with the Heartbreakers, and even with the Traveling Wilburys.

Petty loved the Rickenbacker for its ease of playing and its unique sound. “No other guitar sounds quite like a Rickenbacker,” he once said.