Dierks Bentley - Miles, Music, Kids & New Lyrics?



Photo Credit Larry Darling

 

Photo Credit Larry Darling



Dierks Bentley raised over $144,000 for Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital Sunday.  This was Bentley's first "Miles and Music For Kids" event in The Windy City, but all total he's raised over $1.7 million over the last six years in seven cities through the motorcycle ride/concert.

The motorcycle ride started from Fox River Harley-Davidson in St. Charles, Il, and ended with a full concert at Joe's Bar.  Opening for Dierks were Eli Young Band and Jerrod Niemann.

Not only did Bentley bike it to Joe's, he also wrote a third verse on the spot to his latest number one single, "Am I The Only One?" that included the famous bar in the lyrics.  Watch and listen (video by Stacy):



Several DB Congress Reps supported our prez in this worthy fund raiser, including Stacy Baker from Michigan.

"The doors to The event opened at 1:00. They had a whole city blocked roped off. A building had been knocked down where the stage was set up so there was a lot of room for the "sold out" crowd. The music began right at 2. It started with Tyler Reeve who played a great set. Followed by the CMT star winner Matt Mason.

Then Eli Young Band came on. Dierks came on during their rendition of Lynard Skynards "Gimme Three Steps."  It got everyone really excited. Then Jerrod Niemann played.



Photo Credit Larry Darling

After Jerrod there was a long break where they had a girl who had been treated at Children's Memorial Hospital talk. A $5,000 check was donated from The insurance company sponsors. The they auctioned off a special guitar made for the event. It was autographed by all the artists. They were encouraging Chicago to beat the previous auction in Ohio which was $10,000. At the end of the auction it sold for $10,500 dollars.
Then Dierks came on and as always the crowd went nuts. He started with his new beer and country music song ["Country And Cold Cans"]. He talked about the most amazing moment of the day: They were on the ride on a back road and were coming to the top of a hill and as they reached the top the while Chicago skyline stretched before them and one of the people he was riding with had a radio and at that moment Chicago's Country 99 station was playing AITOO.  He said it was incredible. And because of that he decided to write a third verse for AITOO on the spot (see video above). He messed up the first time and joked about it then went on to sing about the girl talking about commitment and him going to Joe's bar.

When Dierks came on everyone seemed to forget they had been standing on uneven rocks for the past five hours and just were entranced by Dierks. It almost felt magical as the 80 degree day cooled off and the sun was setting during "Trying To Stop Your Leaving."



Photo Credit Larry Darling





Photo Credit Larry Darling




Photo Credit Larry Darling




Photo Credit Larry Darling



Photo Credit Larry Darling




Photo Credit Larry Darling

Then I had to leave early as we had an hour trip back to our truck and a 5 1/2 hour ride home for work this morning. It was so worth it though, as any trip to see Dierks is. Bill and I counted that this past year we had seen Dierks perform 6 times and met him 3 times. It was a Dierks-filled year. I can only hope this next year is just as lucky!"

Fans won't have to wait to long for the next MM4K.  It's this coming Sunday, October 16 in Nashville, Tennessee, marking the inaugural city's 6th annual event!  Several dozen DB Congress Reps will gather at Joe's Crab Shack downtown Saturday night to sign get well cards for the kids at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital!

For more information, email KY rep David at david.m915@googlemail.com.

DBTV - Episode 35: Miles & Music For Kids!

Over $1.6 million raised for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, Dierks Bentley recaps past Miles & Music For Kids events and gears up for the Oct. 9 (Chicago) and Oct. 16 (Nashville) events in this week's DBTV.  I was at the October 2010 Nashville and May 2011 Columbus events and I can tell you these DB charity bike ride/concerts are special experiences!

Are you going to be there to help push the $2 million mark? 

Chicago DJ's Get Dierks to Fess Up: New Single & MM4K

Dierks knows how to get people excited without actually coming right out and saying "what" it is.  Listen as he talks to Chicago DJs Ramblin Ray and Lisa from US99.5, where he gives big hints about bringing Miles and Music For Kids to Chicago, and he talks about the new single: "Home." 

"I want fans to have two songs to kinda check out from this record before they make the decision to go buy it...it's called, Home.  It's about our country...its a great song, hopefully it will move people in a really good way.  So we have a party song (Am I The Only One) and a patriotic song to check out before you buy the record."

Listen here.

With Bentley, You Get An All-around Entertainer

I was impressed by Alexandra McMillin's digitaltourbus.com Dierks Bentley concert review of his April 30 Chicago show.  You will be, too!

"With Bentley you don’t just get live music and he isn’t just a singer. You get a musician, a comedian, a storyteller – an all-around entertainer. He knows exactly what buttons to push to make the audience go crazy, having has just as much fun at the show as the audience does. The interesting instrumentation included Banjo, mandolin, stand up bass-- not your average country concert. Bentley is that his voice always sounds just as good live, if not better, as it does on his recordings. He is such an honest performer who moves so naturally on stage. Dierks Bentley belongs in front of a crowd."

Read the whole story here.

Enter to Win Dierks Bentley Tickets to Chicago

Country Music Rocks is giving away Dierks Bentley tickets to the Chicago show on April 30! Enter now!

DIERKS PODCAST ON US 99.5 CHICAGO

Listen in as Chicago's US 99.5 Ramblin' Ray and Lisa talk with Dierks about his Twitter entries, "The Hangover," who he's gonna see in concert Sept 13, hockey, girls ruling the world, psycho fans, Forbes Top 10 list, Mom sending newspaper clippings of her son, the next single--Beautiful World or 'Close Your Eyes, the CMT Awards, Brad's American Saturday Night tour, and Jake.

DID DIERKS GET INVITED TO DANCE?

Which statement is true?

A) Dierks dresses up to perform at the Artist Den PBS taping.
B) Dierks raises his T-shirt prices at concert merchandise tables to $102.
C) Dierks was asked to be on Dancing With the Stars.

Find out here. Listen to the audio interviews with Dierks and Chicago's Country Radio US99.5 DJ's and Chuck Wicks.