Videos: Dierks Performs at The White House!

How appropriate for our president of the Dierks Bentley Congress (Dierks), to open the "Country Music: In Performance at the White House" show with his newest single, "Home."   The PBS music special aired last night from the East Room of the White House, hosted by President and Mrs. Obama.

What an honor for Dierks to represent country music in our nation's home, along with eight other artists who performed: Lauren Alaina, who did a duet with Dierks (see video below), The Band Perry, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Mickey, Darius Rucker and James Taylor.

"Standing in the East Room of The White House last night rehearsing ‘Home’ was a surreal feeling,” Dierks said. “No matter who you vote for or what you believe, it is one of the greatest symbols of our country. It is our nation’s ‘Home.’ I’m honored to have been asked to perform there, and tonight when I sing this song, I will definitely be thinking about all of the men and women in the military.”



What's Your Favorite Song?


From The Washington Post:

Dierks Bentley on being excited to be here:

"On my phone... I keep going to down to my Google maps, trying to get my blue dot to go on the White House. Hey! It worked! ... I guess ‘cause we’re outside... [Let me] take a screen saver shot of that blue dot.”

Bentley on why we should support our returning veterans:

“Now is the time that these guys are coming back, you know, with health problems and obviously they’re trying to put their families back together. And the economy’s crap. Now is the time to really show your patriotism, your support, and do something... It’s more than just a yellow ribbon... How do we incorporate these folks back into our society, into our economy, so they can have productive lives?”

In case you missed the show, here are a few videos for you. 

1-Behind the scenes, with DB interviewing the other artists.  Check out the "hugs" at the end!

2-President Obama's opening remarks

3-Dierks performs "Home," and dedicates it to the guys and girls in the military who are coming "home." (Thanks to Janet, NJ rep)

4-Lauren Alaina performing the Willie Nelson classic, "You Are Always On My Mind," duet with Dierks.













The show ended with Kris Kristofferson singing "Bobby Magee" and all the artists joined him on stage and sang a line or two.  Then, as the credits rolled, President and Mrs. Obama thanked each performer by shaking hands and freely giving out hugs.  Another great feat for the history books!

DIERKS RIDES FOR KIDS AGAIN

Every year I say I'm going to go to DB's M&M4K event. Every year I end up spending all my money on other DRT's throughout the year! This year is no exception.

Dierks Bentley will host his fourth annual "Miles & Music For Kids" celebrity motorcycle ride and concert on Sunday, Oct. 11 in Nashville. Since I have seen him 7 times already this year, and he will be in Tampa 5 days after this event, I'll have to pass yet again. *Sad face

Sponsored by Nationwide Insurance, all proceeds from the event will benefit the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, a Children's Miracle Network Hospital. The ride begins at Harley-Davidson of Cool Springs and goes through beautiful Williamson County and Historic Downtown Music City. The ride ends at Riverfront Park for a two to three hour concert "Jam Session" in a festival type setting. Joining Dierks will be Darius Rucker, Eric Church, and more of Dierks' friends to be announced in the coming weeks.

Event Timeline
10:00 a.m. to 12 – Registration at the Cool Springs Harley
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 – Ride from Cool Springs Harley to Riverfront Park.
1:30 p.m. – Gates open at Riverfront.
2:00 p.m. – Local band starts playing on stage at Riverfront Park.
3:00 p.m. – Concert: Dierks, Darius Rucker, Eric Church, and more

"This has always been a pretty special deal, and then last year my daughter was born at Vanderbilt the same day as our event and that really put things in perspective for me," says Bentley. "It's cool that guys like Darius and Eric are willing to come out and help us raise some money, so that our community can continue to benefit from the hospital's services."
~Dierks Bentley

This year, Bentley has joined forces with Nationwide Insurance, CMT ONE COUNTRY and the Children's Miracle Network to expand the successful "Miles & Music for Kids" event to six cities across the country in 2009 and 2010, with all proceeds benefiting Children's Miracle Network hospitals in those areas. In the three previous years, "Miles & Music for Kids" has raised over $500,000 for Children's Hospital. Click here for ongoing artist announcements.

Tickets are still available through Ticketmaster.

$300 Ticket includes: A Ride in the Pack with the Artists and VIP Concert ticket with access to VIP Concert Tent with food & beverages & T-Shirt.

$150 Ticket includes: VIP Concert ticket with access to the VIP Concert Tent with food & beverages.

$80 Duo (Combo) Ticket: Good for 2 regular Concert tickets and Duo Riders and 2 T-Shirts ( 1 Bike with 2 Riders).

$50 Ticket: Good for Regular Concert ticket and Ride and T-Shirt ( 1 Rider only ).

$20 Ticket: Good for Regular Concert ticket only.

I hope many of you DB Congress reps can participate in the Nashville event and support Dierks in this worthy cause. As soon as the dates are announced for the other 5 cities we'll be sure to let you know!

DIERKS AND DARIUS RUCKER HAVE A BROMANCE

Darius Rucker spoke with the morning crew at WEZL in Charleston recently and had nothing but good things to say about his buddy Dierks! Listen in as Darius tells the story about their budding bromance and how their wives feel about it.