Our Crazy Dierks Bentley "5-1-5-0" Loco Weekend!

 Dude, Inc takes their bow. Photo by Carrie Srebro

It is a well known fact that hardcore Dierks Bentley fans will follow him anywhere.  And last weekend was no exception.  Eleven DB Congress reps from five states (FL, SC, NC, IN, DE) convened in Beaufort, South Carolina Saturday, to show our support for Dierks and his new single, "5-1-5-0," that's chugging up the charts like a Chesney song!

The 'Throwdown at Fightertown' concert was in the middle of  "the woods," at the Marine Corps Air Station. According to Hannah Morris, "not only is the air station responsible for our daily and nightly Sounds of Freedom, it provides a large amount of local jobs in the area, helping our small town thrive."

LtCol Gray walked on stage to thank everyone who had a part in making the event possible, and told us he had spoken with Dierks backstage and that he knew Dierks had a special place in his heart for the men and women who keep our country safe, and that it was evident, as he quoted the lyrics from Dierks' recent number one single, Home, "This is still the place that we all call home." The mostly military crowd went wild!

"Special lighting and effects made concert goers feel like this event was larger than life; easily comparable to big city efforts," Hanna continued. "With both his father and grandfather serving in the Army, Dierks continuously mentioned the special place in his heart for Service Members and their families; making the crowd feel sincerely blessed."

Photo credit eatsleepplaybeaufort.com; lighting by Chris Reade

One military wife in the audience is also our newest member of the DB Congress! Meredith (SC) and her daughter enjoyed their first Dierks concert and her first fan club meet and greet!  She wore her new DBC T-Shirt proudly and he autographed it for her and asked her about her tattoos. Her husband is stationed in Afghanistan and will be home for two weeks in June but then has to go back until September.  What a sacrifice our military families make to be without their loved ones so we all can be safe and free! Thank you! And welcome to the Dierks family!

Meredith tweeted this pic of herself to Dierks

"@dierksbentley was great meeting you! Had a fab time! My inauguration into @dbcongress The show rocked!"

Since the show was on base, concert-goers also has an opportunity to see various military vehicles on display. Later Dierks told the crowd he had explored one of the cockpits and admitted to having his own pilot license (although he knew he didn't compare to the air force pilots).

Will Hoge opened for Dierks, and for those of you who had the honor of attending the February 2nd Ryman show, you know how powerful his voice is--and Saturday night was "blow-me-away" perfect. He told the audience as a performing artist you try to come on stage and "look cool," but being in the middle of all those military heroes it was nearly impossible. His set included many of the songs from his newest album, "Number Seven," including "When I Get My Wings." He introduced the song by telling a story of a couple who had been married 60 years and the husband had served his country, and the wife died. Heartwrenching performance. If you ever get the opportunity to hear Will live--GO! In the meantime, buy the CD on itunes! We each took photos with him afterward and he was so appreciative.

Later, a tweet from ‏@WillHoge: "just so we are clear: marines are bad ass. Semper Fi......and thank you!"

Will Hoge, Beaufort, SC, 4-28-12; Photo by Carrie Srebro

Kathy and Will

As soon as the sun went down, the temperature went up as Dierks and the guys hit the stage!  We had been waiting front row for hours, with our 'painted toes and our flip-flops' and our "5150" little white tank tops.

Notice the "Country & Cold Cans" coozie

L to R: Kathy (IN), Ronna (FL), Carrie (NC), Amy (DE), Sandra (NC)

The first song in the set was "Country and Cold Cans" followed by "Feel That Fire."  We didn't expect it so soon so we were scrambling to get our prank ready.  We each held up 8 x 10 photos of bass player, Cassady Feasby, from his "beach scene" in the Australia DBTV episode. Dierks and the guys were squinting to see what we were holding and then started laughing. Dierks grabbed Sandra's photo and set it up on Dr. Feasby's mic stand. Ryan, the camera guy, was on the other side of the rail snapping away photos of our craziness.

As always, Dierks found a way to connect with all areas of the audience--even in the back.  But all throughout the concert, the DBC got lots of love from our president--nearly every song.  Such as: "How Am I Doin'?" (I keep my friends with me...) when he gestured a circle around us; "Sideways," (I can see you came to rock in your blue jeans and white tank tops) and of course the LWTT reference in "What Was I Thinkin'."

But the highlight for us was "5-1-5-0."  We were singing at the top of our lungs and a certain pair of pink fuzzy handcuffs (5150 is police code for criminally insane) found their way on stage, along with a leopard bra, which Dierks picked up gingerly with his guitar.

There was not an inch of the stage that Dierks didn't stand, jump, sit, kneel, lay or take a bow on.

All photos by Carrie Srebro

For Settle For A Slowdown, Dierks added a verse of  "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," which fit perfectly with the song's rhythm and melody--a nice tip of the hat to Hank Williams. At one point he sang a tribute to his dad, with "Your Cheatin' Heart," featuring the talented Tim Sergent on steel guitar.  It was nice to have "Trying To Stop Your Leaving" back in the set list--yet no red guitar this time.  Instead Dierks used his trusty Martin with the hole in it to start the song. Sounded sweet!

The crowd was really into every song, but none more than Carolina stars in a purple night, during "Every Mile A Memory," and of course, "Home" got a huge roar of approval with its strong USA theme.

Once the encore (Tip It On Back, Sideways and Thinkin') was over, we stood our ground and picks were thrown and landing in the grass out of our reach over the rail.  It was funny to see marines in uniform crawling on the ground to grab all the pics and hand them to all of us hanging over the barricade.  I even ended up with a drumstick--first one ever in 8 years of DB shows!

After the show, the po-po (police) kept telling us to go to our cars, but we were told by the stage manager, Jay, to wait, so we did, and then Dierks' manager Tom came out and said, "If you're wearing a 5-1-5-0 tank top come with me, Dierks wants to see you. ONLY if you have a 5-1-5-0 tank top on." I forgot to mention not one of us got a meet and greet through the fan club, so this was a nice surprise that Dierks requested it!

We were escorted behind the stage and Dierks said hi to us, then said, "I'll be back in a few minutes." We thought he was talking to us, but he meant for us to follow him--so we did! He lead us around to Big White (his truck), which was up on a flat bed, ready for the 5-1-5-0 video shoot the next day (more on that in the next blog!). He kept saying he couldn't believe we were all there--together--from 5 different states, and couldn't thank us enough. He got the biggest kick out of our shirts and we explained we each had a different line from the lyrics on the back so he wanted Ryan to get a picture of that, too. We asked if we could take pictures with our own cameras and he said, "of course, that's the idea!" and kept making sure Ryan took picture with our lone camera (Carrie smuggled hers in) and iPhones. He also mentioned that he loved the prank on Cassady.

Kathy, Ronna, Dierks, Sandra, Amy, Carrie

After all the picture taking and hugs, Dierks told us to tweet him copies of the pics, and Tom escorted us back (referring to us as the "5-1-5-0 girls.") We saw Tim and Cassady and they said hi to us. We stopped to talk but Tom kept us moving, so Cassady came out with us and took pictures and chatted. Cassady asked Carrie for the rest of the pictures from his prank, too, which she happily turned over! He said he was sure we'd see them turn up somewhere in the future.

After that, the po-po insisted that we leave, so we reluctantly said goodbye to Cassady and headed out to grab a bite to eat. Pretty much all of Beaufort had been at the concert, and pretty much all of the concert-goers were at IHOP--there were Dierks Bentley t-shirts everywhere! The hostess and our waitress asked us all about the show, and we gave the kids at the next table DB Congress wrist bands. After an impromptu "5-1-5-0" sing-along in the parking lot at midnight, it was time to part ways. Sandra and Kathy had to head back to Charlotte so Kathy could catch her morning flight out - so sad to say goodbye to our friends!

But the comment we kept coming back to was "yeah ... that just happened." As always, every mile was truly a memory, and we made a lot of 'good remember-whens, right up to the end.'

- Ronna
DBC Chair (FL)
(with contributing photos and memories from Carrie, NC.)

BentleyGirl2 Represents DB Congress Well in Missoula

BentleyGirl2, aka Lara Hatch, was "super excited" about getting her DB Congress T-shirt . "Just wanted to let you know that I received my shirt and it's just as awesome as I thought it would be. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"  

When the Montana DB Congress rep wore her new Dierks Bentley Congress (fan club) shirt to the Missoula show last Thursday at the University of Montana, she had no clue it would land her an interview.

"I just wanted to inform you that there is an awesome article about our president, Dierks Bentley, at Missoula up on their web site . It mentions how awesome he was (oh and a little about me sporting my DB Congress T-shirt!)"

She was being a little modest, because the article did a little more than mention her:

"Lara Hatch proudly sported a “DB Congress” shirt to the concert. Hatch holds the title as the first Montana “representative” in Bentley’s official fanclub – the “DB Congress” – and was one of a few lucky fans who got to meet Bentley backstage Thursday night.
She wasn’t sure what she’d ask him – “This is a fly by the seat of your pants thing,” she said – but she did have a poster for him to sign. When Hatch met Bentley before his last concert in Missoula, he told her he had hiked the “M” in flip-flops and looked around the Montana Harley-Davidson shop."

"The highlight for me," Lara admitted, "was the fact that I haven't seen Dierks in a meet and greet since 2008 and he actually remembered who I was and said he was glad to see me!  It was an awesome concert and the crowd even gave him a standing ovation!  I'm just happy to share ( as well as other fan club members) the love we share for our president Dierks."

Thanks for sharing, Lara! You represented DB and the DBC well in Montana!

Dierks on Easy Street - Record Store Day

Vinyl album sales are up 20% over last year to date, and Dierks Bentley was a guest of honor, performing in the fifth annual Record Store Day today at Easy Street Records in Seattle, Washington.

Although he was only one of hundreds of bands performing in record stores across the nation, Dierks featured special guests such as Mike McCready from the legendary band, Pearl Jam. Many of you will remember McCready's guitar riff at the beginning of Life On The Run, on DB's Feel That Fire album, sounding so much like a motorcycle, you almost forgot it was a guitar--that's talent!

Dierks, bassist Cassidy Feasby and fiddle player Dan Hochhalter could not contain their excitement on Twitter about getting to play music with their idols.

Below are two videos from You Tube of the cover performances..  Before "Just Breathe" be sure to listen to DB talking about the song and what it means to him.  Dierks and Team Dude also sang Feel That Fire, Am I The Only One, and Home.  

Just Breathe (Pearl Jam cover):
Special guest Mike McCready!! Easy Street Records, Seattle, Washington - April 21, 2012 - Record Store Day - 100.7 WOLF

Dead Flowers (The Rolling Stones cover) Special guest Mike McCready!! Easy Street Records, Seattle, Washington - April 21, 2012 - Record Store Day - 100.7 WOLF

Life Finds A Way For The Grascals & Dierks Bentley

Bluegrass greats, The Grascals, posted on their facebook wall on Wednesday that they were, "tickled to learn that the song "Life Finds A Way" (the title cut from our new CD on Mountain Home) is the #1 song on the Bluegrass Today chart. Thanks to everyone that is playing it!"

Dierks Bentley fans will find the song especially sweet since he helped write it.  Country Standard Time confirms, "the album still finds the band is digging its collective teeth into composing as they co-wrote 5 of the 13 songs including the title cut with help from Dierks Bentley."

Long time friends, Dierks and The Grascals have been featured on each others albums over the last several years, such as Prodigal Son's Prayer on DB's Long Trip Alone Album, and Folsom Prison Blues on The Grascals Cracker Barrell project--The Grascals & Friends – Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin.

Don't miss the CD release party for "Life Finds A Way," airing on GACTV Saturday, 4/21 at 9:30 am central.

Listen here.

Girl don't lie, you know you cry...

DB Congress rep, Tara Toro, from New York, is our DBC "link-finder" for DBC on Facebook!  She had the good fortune to fly to California (on a plane bound west) for two back-to-back Dierks Bentley shows. Did he really make her cry?  Find out how and why...

I have been a member of DB Congress for only three years, but in that time I have kind of made it my goal to attend every Dierks show I possibly can (which can be challenging with kids). I wanted a DBC shirt, but they were always unavailable.  So when I saw recently that they had arrived, I was super excited because I knew a concert was right around the corner!

Happily, a work trip in California for my husband came up and we realized we had airline tickets that were going to expire. I did not have to ask twice about coming along for two shows-LA and Pozo, April 13-14. My husband said yes and we were on our way (with kids in tow). Thankfully, I have a very supportive hubby!

So off I went solo to the Nokia on Friday the 13th.  I met some really nice fans near me and we chatted until the show started. Will Hoge (he’s really good!!) and Eli Young Band got everyone’s energy up as the openers. Dierks and the guys came out and did an absolutely terrific set. They played five songs off of “HOME” and all of the hits. He also had two special guests, Chris Shiflett from the Foo Fighters and Garrett Hedlund, from the movie, Country Strong.

Everyone around me was out of their seats and totally enjoying themselves. He has such a rapport with the audience and succeeds in connecting with so many people. He and the guys never disappoint and always give more than 100%.

Then it came time for "How Am I Doin’."  I know this is the song where he goes to a gal and chats with her. I had the crazy pleasure of it happening to me two months ago in NYC during HOME release week. When it came time for that part, and he walked over to me, honestly the first thought in my head was “what the?!” I mean, once is a once in a lifetime thing, but twice? 

He slipped a bit on the way over, so I braced his leg, then literally he sat on the stage in front of me, held my hand, asked my name then the usual “where’s the after party?” To which I replied, “on your bus,” and he laughed. Got up, inserted my name into the “Tara, don’t lie you know you cry, cos you know how good it used to be...,” looked over at me and pointed, and I pointed back.

Seriously, what a thrill! I cannot believe it happened. The guys next to me were so happy for me, they high-fived me.  No photo though, their camera had died.

The show ended with "What Was I Thinkin’." I know I will be thinkin’ about this night for a long time.

Day #2:  This is not a ‘Dierks held my hand’ story for Pozo but simply what a gal will do to get to a DB concert--set off alone on a beautiful sunny day, ready to pop the Dierks cd in the player for the 4-hour drive in the rental car.  After driving through Chevron land, I should have had a clue the poor GPS was not leading me in the right direction. 

Then I saw “Pozo 20 miles” and was psyched. The joke was on me.  It took me on Forest Mountain Road (I believe), a dirt road about 20 miles long up and down the mountain cliffs, one lane if you can call it that, no railing, small boulders in the middle of the road, me crying and thinking, “this cannot be the right road, there is no way Goldie (Dierks’ tour bus) could have gotten through this!”  Lots of prayers, and then seeing cars/RVs/buses and thinking I have reached the land!

Pozo was a totally different venue than the previous night in LA, but Dierks and the guys are so versatile that the shows come off so well no matter if it’s outside, a 500 capacity dive, or the 5,000 seat Nokia Theater.

He opened the show with “Country and Cold Cans,” and did four other songs off of HOME: “Tip It On Back,” which he said he hopes to have as the fourth single in the fall, “Home,” which was almost magical as he sang it against the beautiful Pozo sunset, “5-1-5-0,” and “Am I The Only One,” along with his hits and some Buck Owens “Act Naturally” in a nod to the Bakersfield sound. The crowd loved it and went a little 5150 (crazy) with their very interesting dancing on the grass, (I wish I had captured Dierks' face as he watched that) and weed smoking, to which Dierks inhaled deeply a few times to laughter and applause.

The nice thing at Pozo is, I got to meet David and his wife Jamie.  It is true that through the DBC you get to meet so many nice people who become your friends! There may not have been any personal moments at Pozo, but it was another fantastic show that was totally worth the cross country plane ride. And it took me a lot less time to get back to our friends’ house on a much safer road!

Tara Toro

DB Congress Rep, NY

Dierks Road Trip 2012: LA to Pozo

DB Congress reps, Dave and Jamie Watts, promoting our president in California, set off on a DRT (Dierks Road Trip) to Los Angeles and Pozo last weekend.  Come along with them on their journey...

Dierks Road Trip 2012 

By Dave Watts (aka @DistantShore19 on Twitter) 

Hey y'all (dbcongress),

If all I had to do was tell you about how awesome the first weekend of the new "Country and Cold Cans Tour" went, that would be easy. With four hours of concerts over two days, there are many memories.

Dierks was in top form playing all the number one's, along with five off the new album, mixed in with covers from artists as diverse as Buck Owens to The Foo-Fighters. The sound was great, and the new light show was top notch [thank you Chris Reade!] (In LA; lights blew out in Pozo).  But no matter what kind of fan you are, Dierks did not disappoint!  Duh! Selling out Nokia (4,300) and Pozo--wow!  Bigger, better, with a new album in tow, Dierks was incredible.

But sitting here reflecting on the weekend, all I can think about is Dierks Bentley--the person--and the Band of Brothers he has surrounded himself with. 

Some of my most special moments were more personal.  They include my wife (@jkonthecoast) and Tim Sergent (steel guitar) discussing his "warm hands" and where he bought his gloves--how real is that?  Another was Cassady Feasby (bassist, aka @drfeasby) and Dan Hochhalter (aka @fiddlinDan) taking time to shake our hands and say hi.  By the way, they were NOT part of the Meet and Greet (M&G)! Dan was talking to my wife about her life and her profession.

Cassady asked how our kids were and how the drive was from LA to Pozo.  This was NOT acting.  These were real questions, real conversations, with real people. Simply genuine is how I would describe Team Dude.

And of course, there is Dierks.  During Home in LA, thanking the fans, he points to my wife (we were 28th row) and says, 

"I see you, I see you DB Congress.  I’ve got the best fans in the world!"  

Everyone was looking at us with our DB Congress shirts on and cheering.  It was crazy. By the way, dbcongress, when DB points at you, he really sees you.   When he says, "I see you up top, with that lil' white tank top," he really does. When Dierks says, "I love you guys," he means it! 

And then of course there was show #2--Pozo, CA, where we had a M&G with our President, Mr. Dierks Bentley!  Needless to say we were  jacked up to finally get to meet Dierks after so many shows (our first was in 2006). Once DB came out and started to chat with the group, I knew this was gonna be special.  DB talked about the LCB8 and told us about his solo drive through the "woods."  Very cool getting into Dierks' head.

When it was time for the individual M&G, I was standing in line watching my wife chat with DB.  I had it all planned out.  I knew exactly what I wanted to say! Ha! What a waste of time because as I walked up to Dierks he turned, looked at me and said, "Dave...DistantShore19, right?  It's a pleasure to finally meet you!"  I was floored! A pleasure to meet ME?  He thanked me for all my tweets and constant support.  

I realized at that moment, I didn’t have to tell him about all the shows I’ve been to, or all the TV performances (Leno, Ferguson, etc.) because Dierks remembered.  He sees you on Twitter/Facebook supporting him.  He sees you in the front and in the last row. Dierks is watching us, too! Dierks is a Fan of US (HIS CONGRESS). He genuinely appreciates his fans. I truly believe this is what separates Dierks from other artists.

And now he has a group of musicians ("dudes") who feel the same way about the fans.  It was simply one of the best days of our lives.  

Eight years ago when I first heard Dierks, I knew I was connecting with his music on a much deeper level than with other artists (of any genre of music).  It was touching my soul.  I always believed in DB, his music and his message.  It always felt personal with Dierks, And finally getting  that once in a life-time chance to meet him only affirmed what I already knew:  Dierks, “the human being,” is what makes Dierks, “the artist/musician,” so damn special.

Thank you, Dierks.  We love you, Brother!

Dave and Jamie Watts

DB Congress Reps, CA

Last Call Ball 8 Announced!

Who's ready for the biggest party of the year?!  Last Call Ball 8 has officially been announced!

From Dierks.com :

DB Congress, you're invited!  Join us for Dierks' Last Call Ball 8 during CMA Fest in Nashville!

Date:  Wednesday, June 6

Time:  9 p.m. doors - 10 p.m. show

Venue:  Cannery Ballroom

One Cannery Row

Nashville, TN 37203

(walking distance from CMA Fest)

 

Get Tickets:  On sale Friday, April 20 at 10 a.m. central time through Dierks.com

Ticket Prices:  $35 / DB Congress Member  -  $40 / Guest*

 

*You must be a member to purchase guest tickets.  Limit 1 member ticket and 3 guest tickets per member.

See you all in Nashville!  :-)

~Amy 

Delaware

Radio Spins 5-1-5-0 Like a Yo-yo

In its 4th week on the charts, Dierks Bentley's latest single "5-1-5-0" is starting to storm up the charts. On Billboard, it moved up 8 spots to #37, and on Mediabase it moved a whopping 11 spots, from #50 where it debuted last week all the way up to #39 this week! Last week, it officially went for adds, and picked up 30 first-week Mediabase panel adds (Billboard's are not publicly available); this week it snagged 27 more adds. In total, "5-1-5-0" has been added at 72 of the 139 stations that make up the Mediabase panel - little more than halfway in just two full official weeks! Radio is already starting to go loco! 

Thus far, the song is garnering fairly strong, positive reviews. Bobby Peacock of Roughstock reviewed the song today, giving it 4 stars and saying the song is "fun to listen to" and while noting it's not the deepest of songs, points out that not all uptempos need to be meaningful and concludes by calling it a "silly little piece of ear candy." He went on to say that it's ear candy he won't get sick of after a few listens. 

It appears radio echoes these sentiments as "5-1-5-0" becomes one of Dierks' fastest-rising non-lead singles. "5-1-5-0" is certainly making a lot of noise, and seems like it should deliver our Prez's 10th #1 single and be a perfect warm-weather jam. 

If your radio station hasn't added it just yet, don't get frustrated: many stations will add the song now that it's Top 40, but some stations won't add it until it's Top 30 (it's just how they program their songs). And the Top 30 is just around the corner: if it doesn't hit Top 30 this coming week, it definitely will the following week. But keep calling, emailing, tweeting, and requesting the song on Facebook so radio knows you're "just this side of loco!" 

~ Carrie Srebro (DBC Rep/Chart Reporter ~ NC)

Arizona's Own Country Star, Dierks Bentley

Simply titled, "west...", Dierks Bentley tweeted this picture of himself shortly after landing in Arizona to kick off his North American leg of the Country and Cold Cans tour.  And what better state to start in than his own "home" state of Arizona!

Thursday, April 12 marked the date for Country Thunder 2012 in Florence, AZ.  Check out this video from the Tuscon News Station, KVOA.

Here's an excerpt of an  interview with azcentral.com:

Question: How does it feel to get back to the country mainstream a bit after diving into bluegrass on your previous release?

Answer: It feels great. I like big shows, a lot of volume and a lot of energy. I love electric instruments. But I do love mixing those with bluegrass instruments and cranking those up, too, with a little bit of that rock energy.

Q: Could you talk about the writing of the title track?

A: I was writing with Dan Wilson and Brett Beavers, thinking about Gabby Giffords because that had just happened four days earlier. And all the info-entertainers on the 24-hour news channels were constantly barking, trying to divide people. The politics were just so bad at that point. Dan said something about "America." Brett said something about "home." And I was like "This place is all called home. America."
We have so much more in common than we have differences. I travel the country more than any politician. I play small towns no one's ever heard of. I hang out with military families. I think I have my fingers on the pulse of this country pretty well, and what I hear on the news just doesn't seem like what I see in real life. So we captured it all in the song. And what I love about the song is that it's something anyone can relate to, and, hopefully, it helps somebody get through a tough time in their lives with the recession or having a family member in the military.

Q: Are you surprised that country radio has embraced the song?

A: Totally. Oh yeah. And I'm the biggest country fan there is, but I'm always a little cautious of a slower song or just a song with subject matter. ... This song is a little bit less of a chest-beating type of patriotic song. So yeah, I was definitely worried.

Q: It's complex.

A: It is. But Capitol Records, they wanted to make it a single, and I was like, "All right. We'll see how it works out."

I'd say it worked out pretty well, landing DB his ninth number one single!

Dierks to Participate in Record Store Day

Dierks Bentley has been added to the list of artists who will be taking part in the 5th Annual Record Store Day on April 21st with a special acoustic performance at Easy Street Records' Queen Anne location in downtown Seattle, WA at 1:00 PM PT.

 “Record Store Day is such a great event that has hardly had any attention in country music,” said Dierks. “Some of the coolest exclusive product comes out on this day at indy retailers, and I wanted country fans to be able to get in on the action. I may have a few surprise special guests up my sleeve too. I'm really excited to take over Easy Street for an hour that afternoon…Seattle is such a great music town." 

Artists like Coldplay, Foster the People, Ryan Adams and The Black Keys will also be taking part by releasing exclusives, making special appearances or performing at brick and mortar record stores to celebrate music.

 Don't forget, Dierks will be in Alaska tomorrow continuing the Country & Cold Cans Tour.  Click here for all upcoming tour dates.

Happy Easter from DB Congress!

Happy Easter to all our dedicated Dierks Bentley peeps (reps) and your families!  Happy Easter to Dierks, Cassidy, Evie and Jordan, too! And to all the Team Dude, Inc. and  your families...Cassady, Brian, Dan, Jay, Chris, Brit, Tim, Steve...we'll see you real soon on the spring tour!

Dierks' Night at the ACM Awards: Inspirational

Dierks Bentley's evening at the Academy of Country Music Awards last night started out with a walk on the red carpet with wife, Cassidy and an interview with GACTV's Storme Warren:




One of the first awards of the night was Song of the Year, and DB Congress collectively held our breath hoping to hear our president's name called. And the song of the year goes to....."Crazy Girl," by The Eli Young Band.  Sighs of disappointment from the at-home audience, but Dierks was the first one to jump up out of his chair to genuinely congratulate his tour mates.  It was just a few months ago that DB surprised EYB with a congratulatory cake on stage to celebrate Crazy Girl going to #1--their first ever.

I'm guessing the highlight of the evening for DB was his introduction by his idol, Bono, from the legendary U2.  Bono said this about his '"friend" Dierks, 

"Dierks Bentley's music reaches all the way from Nashville to my kitchen in Dublin. When he sings 'Home,' I feel patriotic about America. And I'm not even American. I think anyone who hears it understands that America is not just a geography. It's not just a country. It's an idea. I think country fans get that deeper than most."

Watch the intro here: 




The poignant and patriotic performance resulted in a standing ovation! What an inspirational moment.  We are so proud!

Twitter was buzzing with kudos from fans and industry alike:

Like Little Big Town: @DierksBentley what a great and authentic performance! #ACMs

Tony Thomas: @DierksBentley did such a heartfelt performance of "Home" on the #ACMs. And had an unexpectedly patriotic intro from Bono, completely cool.

GAC: @DierksBentley is gonna be walking around at all the after parties asking the other performers who introduced them on the #ACMs? #Bono

New York Veteran Music Journalist, Jim Bessman: Dierks Bentley unquestionably the best country artist of the current crop, far and away. #ACMs

CMT's Cody Alan: I thought @DierksBentley gave the performance of lifetime with 'Home' introduced by Bono at #ACMs -Who was your favorite? #fb

Country Music Is Love named Dierks' performance as one of the top ten moments of the night:

"Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley Pay Homage to America- Labelmates Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley undoubtedly delivered two of the best performances of the night. Urban honored the troops when he sang the self-penned “For You” from the Act of Valor soundtrack and Bentley delivered a heartfelt performance of his patriotic No.1 single “Home.” Both performers received a standing ovation."

When Blake Shelton accepted his Male Vocalist award, he quoted the lyrics from "Home:"
"...I was sitting back there...repeating the lines to Dierks' song [Home], been a long hard ride, got a ways to go...that's still how I still feel, but I'm proud to take this home tonight..."



Today, Dierks tweeted:

"w/ friends catching up on last night. humbled and honored by bono's introduction to our performance of HOME. equally so by your tweets."

Later the Eli Young Band tweeted: "Thank you to everyone who believed in Crazy Girl and us! I can't believe we won an ACM! Holy cow!" to which Dierks replied:
 

@EliYoungBand hell yeah! bring that hardware out everynight on our #countryandcoldcans tour! happy for you dudes. 

Even without the win, Dierks was so humble and inspirational.  He's a class act.  That's why we'll always be fans for life--award or not.  As the song says, "I won't lose hope" that someday he'll get the industry recognition he deserves.

~Ronna
DB Congress Chair

Pre-ACM Awards Interviews with Dierks Bentley

In case you missed it, Dierks will perform at the 47th annual ACM Awards tonight at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.  He's also nominated for Song of the Year for his number one single, "Home."  Check out a few of the interviews behind the scenes.  The first is a video from ramcountrymusic.com  and the second one is audio from ACM Award winners for Major Market Station of the Year,WQYK in Tampa, FL.

"Picture Dierks Bentley onstage performing his single “Home” with “really cool footage behind on the screens of soldiers and families” and you have the makings for an incredible, possibly tear-jerking moment ...that you definitely don’t want to miss."




"Dierks Bentley stopped by to talk with Dave and Veronica, they talked about his new single, “Home” and how it got a slow start, performing on the ACM awards show tonight, oh and his property up on the ridge in Nashville. Click here and then scroll down to listen to the Dierks interview.