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!

DB Congress President To Perform for the US President

Our DB Congress President--Dierks Bentley--will perform for the President of the United States of America on Monday, November 21, 2011.

"Country Music: In Performance at the White House" is a PBS music special in the East Room of the White House, hosted by President and Mrs. Obama. The evening celebrates Country music, whose roots run deep throughout American history. Taping on November 21, this concert honors the rich history and resilience of this uniquely American musical form. Leading contemporary Country artists pay tribute to many of Country’s iconic figures, tracing the history of Country music through performed songs.
Among those performing Monday night: Lauren Alaina, The Band Perry, Dierks Bentley, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Mickey, Darius Rucker and James Taylor.

Some of the performers also will take part in an afternoon workshop at the White House for 120 local students about the history of country music and its cultural significance.

The 2 p.m. EST workshop and the 7 p.m. EST concert will stream live on www.whitehouse.gov/live.

The concert also will be broadcast by PBS on Nov. 23 at 8 PM ET.

Be sure to tune in!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.

Source

FROM ONE PRESIDENT TO ANOTHER...

A few minutes before Dierks Bentley was to perform last night, he was backstage at The Grand Ole Opry House catching up on his text messages. One in particular caught his attention from his pal Brad. So, the president of the DB Congress decided he wanted to share a "tweet" with all his Twitter friends...

wow...the president of the usa just said "Dierks bentley calls country music the best shrink 15 bucks can buy." thx @bradpaisley for text#fb 8:27 PM Jul 21st from TwitterBerry

The Tennessean reported on President Obama's White House Music Series: A Country Music Celebration in the East Room, with live performances last night by Charley Pride, Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss--all members of The Grand Ole Opry.

“A lot of people think I’m a city boy, but I do appreciate listening to country music,” Obama said in his opening remarks. The President praised country’s dedication to storytelling, said the music “contributed to the life of this nation and chronicled the history of our people” and quoted Harlan Howard, Garth Brooks and Dierks Bentley.

“Dierks Bentley called (country), ‘The best shrink that fifteen bucks can buy,’” Obama said, drawing laughs from the D.C. crowd and reassured glances from the Nashvillians in the room, who were thinking, “Hey, he pronounced ‘Dierks’ correctly.”

Funny. That's the first thing I wondered--did Obama say Dierks' name correctly? Affirmative!




Opry membership requires a passion for country music's fans, a connection to the music’s history. And it requires commitment – even a willingness to make significant sacrifices to uphold that commitment.

Commitment is something Dierks has always had in abundance. Several of us DB Congress reps were listening online at wsmonline.com and chatting. From the screams we were hearing, we knew he was on stage and sure enough they announced, "It's time to get a little sideways with Dierks Bentley!" But he started out with Free and Easy and it was 'rollin' like Mike Snyder's old banjo'. His voice sounded like he had a slight cold but the gravel sounded great to me! Commitment--the show must go on. He followed up FAE with Feel That Fire and finally closed, surprisingly, with Beautiful World--mentioning the text from Brad and the Presidential quote as his intro to the song he says he would like to be known for. He introduced his "band of brothers" and Jon Randall was actually playing with the band as well.

Dierks said he used to sneak in back stage to the Opry years ago to pick up tips of how to be a better singer. It worked!

God bless you, Dierks! We love you too!