Dierks and Scruggs--What a Week!

Dierks and Scruggs. Is that like Dailey and Vincent, the dynamic bluegrass duo who just won the IBMA Entertainer of the Year Award for the third time? No. It's like Dierks Bentley playing "fan in awe of greatness" when he had the chance to spend time with the legendary Earl Scruggs. Take a look at the Twitter exchange below as our DB Congress president shared his experience with us!

@DierksBentley: one from last night. backstge w thman responsible for the saxjtype of banjo playing heard on all modern country records...Earl Scruggs... career highlight sharing the stage w scruggs fam last night


@dbcongress: @DierksBentley Great pic of you & Mr. Scruggs! Red shirt & Jacket-too cool! How many career highlights can you have in one week? Congrats

@DierksBentley: @dbcongress indeed! been a good week. 5th anniversary of Opry induction tonight. thx for all the help with MAP


@dbcongress: @DierksBentley You are very welcome! That's what we do! And thx for the reply/pic--you know that's going on the dbcongress.com blog! haha

And there you have it. Wow! What a week for our dude! Opry Comes Home on Tuesday, International Bluegrass Music Association Awards on Wednesday, Opry 5-year celebration performance on Friday, and hosting an online backstage tour of the opry tomorrow on Opry's Facebook page! Whew! Even I'm tired just typing it all!

~Ronna
DB Congress Chair

DIERKS BENTLEY: COUNTRY MUSIC MISSIONARY

Dierks Bentley defines the country drifter. At least that's what Charles Haymes believes.

"According to Webster’s Dictionary, a ‘drifter’ is defined as “one who travels or moves about aimlessly.” Due to the wide range of subject matter of his songs and his passion for touring America, Bentley, in many ways, fits that description." Haymes is a writer from Beebe and a member of both the Country Music Association and the International Bluegrass Music Association. Below are excerpts from his article.

Dierks said, “I want to wake up every morning thinking ‘I’ve got to make the most of this day.” If we’re playing a corn dog fair, I get out there and check out the horses and the cows and the prizes and hang out and meet people. You get to be a country music missionary. You’re touching people’s lives every day. You’re influencing these people. So, I try to make the most out of every day.”

“I don’t have a storybook tale to tell, as many entertainers do, about growing up in a musical family,” he noted. “Everything I learned musically, I had to learn on my own. My country music education has consisted of listening to a lot of records and spending a lot of time playing in Nashville bars and clubs.”

Bentley definitely knows a thing or two about playing in bars and clubs. He moved to Nashville at 19, and immediately, he threw himself into the downtown scene. Using a fake ID to enter, he started hanging out at the Station Inn, a well known bluegrass bar. It was there that Bentley really started to get a feel for the music business.

“Thank God I walked in there,” he said. “Bluegrass gave me my whole foundation.”

This summer, Bentley will retrace his bluegrass roots upon the release of “Up on the Ridge.” The album will feature a wide range of material and is destined to be a fine acoustic roots project.