Dierks Dubs Devin, 'The Interpretive Dance Guy'

Please leave a comment to welcome new Dierks Bentley Congress California rep - DevinErik! Discover his "Dierks" back-story here:

"I live out in CA, and I can tell you about some of my Dierks experiences. For starters, I've been a Dierks fan since "What Was I Thinkin'" hit radio stations everywhere. Bought his debut cd and haven't looked back. My favorite song is "Beautiful World." I won the Green Screen Contest on CMT for "Free & Easy" which was pretty cool, but that doesn't compare to my New York City trip.

So here's the story. Last October, I was sitting around checking out the fan club site when I noticed that Dierks was doing 4 consecutive shows at 4 separate venues in and around New York City. I remember thinking that it sounded like an amazing time, but I had never been to NY and didn't know anyone that lived out there. The more I thought about how awesome it would be to see the city and watch a Dierks shows each night, the more I realized I needed a vacation. So I booked it; bought tickets to all 4 shows, booked a flight, called my boss, looked for a hotel.

So the first night the show was at The Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan and I got there around 5 or 6 to scout out the line. When I arrived, there were already a dozen or so fans waiting. Luckily I ended up front and center anyway. Dierks came out pumped (coulda been the bottle of Patron he was sipping throughout the set). When he got to the line, "I guess the lord made me hard to handle," in "Lot of Leaving Left To Do," I put my fist in the air and started shaking it. Dierks continued, "So loving me might be a long shot gamble," and I let the dice fly (imaginary dice of course). Dierks almost started laughing mid song.

After finishing the song emphatically, he asked the crowd,"Can you all see this guy down here?" He was laughing in disbelief. "I looked down and saw him shaking his fist and thought, hmmm, shake-weight? Nah, couldn't be..." mocking my muscle tone (or lack thereof). Then he said, "I finally figured it out. He was rolling the dice for the 'Long shot gamble' line." He went on to describe me as an interpretive dancer and told the audience to watch for my moves and then said "Come on Devin, I expect a lot out of ya!"

The rest of the night he jabbed at me, doing some hand gestures and "moves" of his own. Later on in the evening he did a cover of George Strait's "All My Exes Live In Texas" and he had me face the crowd and hand-mime the lyrics. It was incredible.

Finally at the end of the show Dierks began to pull all of the girls wearing white tank-tops up onto the stage while rocking through "What Was I Thinking." He came over to me and yanked me up with everyone else.

I looked around a bit and noticed that I was the only one not wearing a tank-top...or was I? I unbuttoned my shirt a bit to show that I had one on under my flannel and the crowd went berserk.

When the last note of the song played and the drums given a final smash, I grabbed the mic and yelled, "We're going streaking!!!" - which got a big laugh out of Dierks...I'm pretty sure he's a big Will Ferrel fan.

The girls all started clearing the stage, but I was allowed to stay. I started river dancing to the Irish rock song he plays to close out his shows and everyone laughed. Dierks brought me into a huddle with him and the rest of the band and then we all gave an unorganized bow- again, the crowd laughed.

Of course my mind started wandering and I imagined myself tearing up New York all night with the crew, but it all ended with a signed photo of Dierks that said "THX Bret, God Bless" - guess the Patron made him forget my name a bit. But to me it was perfect. The perfect ending to the perfect day.

During my October 2010 trip to NYC, I made a music video of my Dierks trip: "Love Grows Wild." 



Last month I was lucky enough to watch the Dierks & Friends show at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA and Dierks came right over to me at the end and said, "The interpretive dance guy, right?" - yup, that's me.

It is a personal goal of mine to someday write a song with or for Dierks, but for now I'll settle for being someone that he recognizes as a fan. He is a fantastic musician and a cool dude. Thanks for letting me share!

Glad to be a part of the congress!"

-The Interpretive Dance Guy (DevinErik)

DB Congress Rep, California