Video: Dierks Bentley and Sheryl Crow Perform "I Hold On" at the 2014 ACM Awards

In case you missed it, Dierks and Sheryl performed a solid duet of Dierks' eleventh number one single, "I Hold On," toward the end of the ACM Awards last night.

The highlights:

• Dierks points to his dad in heaven during the line, "She's still here and now he's gone."
  
• He sings along (away from the mic) to Sheryl's part
  
• Tim McGraw and Faith Hill sing along from the audience
  
• Dierks doesn't hide his awe of being on stage with Sheryl Crow, mouthing her name and pointing to her and hugging her at the end of the song.

Watch for yourself! Leave a comment with what impressed YOU the most.

Dierks Bentley to Perform at ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute to the Troops

Sheryl Crow, Dierks Bentley 2013

Photo Credit: Chris Polk/Getty Images

Last year, Dierks Bentley performed before the ACMs in Vegas, headlining the Saturday night Party For A Cause, and he's back again this year for ACM Lifting Lives.

The Academy of Country Music and dick clark productions have announced LL COOL J and Chris O’Donnell, stars of the hit CBS drama series “NCIS:  Los Angeles,” will co-host ACM PRESENTS:  AN ALL-STAR SALUTE TO THE TROOPS, a concert event featuring some of the biggest names in country music paying tribute to our armed forces. Additionally, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, Luke Bryan, Hunter Hayes, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Kellie Pickler, and Keith Urban have been added to the star-studded lineup of artists scheduled to perform. The special will be taped Monday, April 7 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be broadcast Tuesday, May 20 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

These artists join previously announced performers Merle Haggard, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum and The Band Perry.  The concert will honor the country’s remarkable servicemen and women and include special moments and stories of incredible bravery and integrity.  Proceeds from ticket sales for ACM PRESENTS:  AN ALL-STAR SALUTE TO THE TROOPS will benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy.

Tickets for ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute to the Troops are on sale NOW at Ticketmaster, priced at $105, $155 and $205. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy.  For more information, please log onto www.ACMLiftingLives.org orwww.ACMcountry.com or follow on Twitter at @ACMawards for more immediate updates.

Love Grows Wild in the Bentley Home: Baby #3 On The Way!

Dierks Bentley's family is growing.  This fall, the Bentley home will house seven (his lucky number that you'll find on the back of his Nashville Iceholes hockey jersey and guitar pick) -- two dogs, Jake and George; two daughters Evalyn "Evie" Day (4) Born October 4, 2008 and Jordan Catherine (2) born Christmas Day 2010; and mom Cassidy and daddy Dierks have another baby on the way!

In typical DB style, he announced the news with sports humor on Twitter:

Possibly hoping to tip the male-scale 4-3, Dierks hinted when a follower assumed the gender:

A reply from Tim McGraw gave Dierks some strategic advice from a father of three daughters:

Boy or girl,  Dierks will have to juggle a lot, with a new album due this fall as well as a new baby.  But he always seems to find a balance with career and family, and that only makes his music stronger and more meaningful.

The Tennessean shared this:

"It was just about three weeks ago when after a show in Las Vegas, Bentley was proudly showing off a cell phone picture of Evalyn perched on the back of a pony wearing a princess cape.  She was at a birthday party and he missed it because he was out of town. Last year the “Home” singer talked openly about how hard it was to be away from his family while he was out playing shows. 

“I’m always thinking about my girls and always missing them,” he said. “Now that the curtain’s been raised on that emotion and you can see what life is all about, it amplifies everything you do. It affects your soul in a weird way. Every moment away from my house has to be huge. I say a prayer every night with the band and I say at the end that we have to make this day worthwhile and not only for our fans but for the people who are at home missing us.”

Dierks and Cassidy have been married since December 14, 2005.

There’s a place where love grows wild
Where hearts can trust just like a child
A wild thing, it don’t need a lot
It just grows on what it’s got
It stills grows no matter what

-Julie and Buddy Miller (Love Grows Wild, sang by Dierks Bentley on his Up On The Ridge album)

We are so excited for Dierks!  We think he's a wonderful dad and are thrilled for him and Cass!

Free & Easy...Across the US I Go

I truly dislike flying, but if there is one person that would get me to fly across the country for a show it would be Dierks Bentley. In fact, I have done it once before back in April of 2012 for two of his shows in California. So when I won tickets to Vegas for the ACMs, I put the fear aside again and booked a solo DRT flight. I mean, Dierks was playing the ACM Party For A Cause, so how could I not take advantage of the tickets? The whole Vegas experience was pretty amazing. If you love country music then you would be in heaven for three days. The real highlight, of course, was the show Saturday night at the ACM Party For A Cause at the Orleans Hotel where Dierks was the headliner.

On this trip, I met up with fellow DBC reps that I met through twitter: Shannon Bunting and Meredith Mauer. We never met in person prior to Vegas, but from the minute we met, it felt like an old friendship. I owe many thanks to these terrific ladies who were able to secure me a gold band to be in the VIP area with them. We also got to catch up with DBC reps David Watts and his wife Jamie. The DB Congress was representing in full force.

Saturday we got in line at noon to wait for Dierks and the guys. They were not going on until about 8pm, but if you are in the Congress you know getting there early is normal behavior. During that time we got to see Love and Theft, EYB and Hunter Hayes perform. The crowd thinned out a bit after Hunter, but it was still crowded. After being in the sun all day, our enthusiasm was not waning. Our energy, though, was definitely brought back up when the guys finally emerged at dusk playing "Am I The Only One".  The songs we love continued with "5-1-5-0", "Sideways" and "Up On the Ridge". Even in a parking lot in Vegas, Dierks managed to interact with his fans like he always does by handing out high fives, fist pumps and even lying on the stage to reach out to fans.

Before the show, the announcer had said that Dierks would have a few surprises for us. Well, that he did. Dierks said he "had this song in his head all day". While he was strumming a few notes on the guitar, out walked Sheryl Crow! They sang "Picture", the duet she had originally performed with Kid Rock, together. Then she sang "If It Makes You Happy". You could tell from their interactions, the two are clearly friends. They looked like they were having a terrific time together, and their good time was contagious.

After a few more songs out came surprise #2: Tim McGraw. Tim did not sing, but rather came out to talk about Operation Homefront. This is a group that gives mortgage free homes to soldiers. A male soldier who just returned from Afghanistan was given a new home that night. In addition, they presented him and his family with a check for $10,000 from the ACM charity Lifting Lives to help get them started in their new home. Looking around during this ceremony, there did not seem to be a dry eye in the audience. All the while, Dierks was beaming. You could tell he was not only thankful for the military and their service, but also thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful moment.

The night ended appropriately with HOME. Although it was back to my home in NY the next day, I know this is one of those trips I'll never forget and also eagerly await the next one!

~Tara, DBC Rep NY

 

VIDEO: Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley, Hunter Hayes Perform on The 2013 ACM Awards

Dierks Bentley performed on the ACM Awards last night with Brad Paisley and Hunter Hayes.  Singing, "Outstanding In Our Field" that they recorded on Brad's new album, the trio tore up the stage with the fast-paced, party song.

We ain't nothin' special, we ain't no big deal
But if you wanna throw a party in the middle of nowhere, 
we're outstanding in our field.



We'd say Dierks is very special and he's a very big deal!  Although not nominated for any  ACM Awards last night, the CBS cameras found him front row in the audience smiling and giving standing ovations after performances by Miranda Lambert and several others. Outstanding!

Dierks will perform again with Tim McGraw tonight on ACM PRESENTS: TIM McGRAW'S SUPERSTAR SUMMER NIGHT" taping at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.  The special will air on CBS on Sunday, May 19 at 9 pm (ET).

Dierks Better Than Tim: An Australian DBC Rep's Experience

Lee Kernaghan, Dierks Bentley & Dan Hochhalter, Brisbane, March 10

Dierks Bentley is currently on a whirlwind tour of down under in Australia, and DB Congress rep Judy and her friend Larissa were lucky enough to experience the Toowoomba and Brisbane shows on March 9 and 10, 2012.  Here's her story!

I picked up Larissa from Gold Coast airport Friday afternoon to begin our road trip to Toowoomba to see two of the best --- Lee Kernaghan & Dierks Bentley. I had received my M&G email a couple of days prior and was feeling very nervous about meeting Dierks. What a nice guy!  I was stuck for words not really sure what I said to him! SHOWTIME!  Lee was out first and was his usual best! The Empire theatre is a seated venue so there were only a few who were up dancing.  Larissa and I were on the balcony, dancing & singing.  Dierks was better than I had ever imagined!

Saturday morning we headed off to Brisbane for the next night's show at The Tivoli Theatre, which is a beautiful old theatre and STANDING! We were lucky enough to catch up with LK backstage before the show.  Dierks was there but I had had my time with him the night before. SHOWTIME! OMG! It went off, the whole place went wild--everybody was dancing, clapping, singing, girls on shoulders of guys -- it was the best crowd I have ever been in.  It was just awesome and Dierks performed brilliantly! What a guy.  He stole lots of hearts that night, especially my daughter Amy, who has only just discovered Dierks.  She can't get him of her mind, a bit like me!

I have seen many artists over the years and had always thought that nobody could match Tim McGraw live.  I was wrong! Dierks Bentley is the man, and I thank him for his wonderful music.  Please visit again!
-Judy xx

Thanks for sharing, Judy!

Dierks Goes Down Under in March 2012

Dierks Bentley will join Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and others at the "CMC Rocks the Hunter," Australia's biggest International Country and Roots Festival, March 16-18, 2012, the Country Music Channel announced yesterday.

Tickets are already on sale!  This year, for the very first time, CMC Rocks the Hunter is offering a ticket purchase payment plan - 'Time to Pay'.  The weekend concert ticket is $249 and camp site pricing is also available.

Other artists include Australia's own Lee Kernaghan, with whom Dierks duets on his Scars video. 



Colt Ford, Craig Campbell, Eli Young Band and Jim Lauderdale will also perform.  What a fantastic line-up!

DB Congress reps Stacey and Rachael are especially excited Dierks is coming back to their homeland! "Someone pinch me!  How am I supposed to sleep now?" tweeted Stacey the minute she heard the news.  Stacey and Rachael both met Dierks when he played Australia in 2009.

CMC posted, "Aussie audiences went crazy for DIERKS BENTLEY (USA) when he joined Brooks & Dunn on their sold-out 2009 Australian arena tour. Since he rocketed onto the country landscape in 2003, the chiselled hitmaker has earned a reputation as one of the most electrifying live acts in music today, with a string of chart topping hits and album sales climbing over 5 million in the US. Dierks will be releasing his seventh album, “Diamonds,” later this year."

Follow and chat with fellow fans on CMC Rocks the Hunter on Facebook here.

Australia is in my top ten destinations to do before I die.  Dierks AND Australia? Payment Plan? What do you think, congrass?

DIERKS OPENS FOR TIM MCGRAW

The last time Dierks Bentley and Tim McGraw shared a stage was quite possibly the #1 party for Dierks' Feel That Fire single. Or was it Bentley's Miles and Music For Kids motorcycle ride/charity event last October?

Either way, the next time the two country music buds will perform together is July when Dierks will open for two Tim McGraw shows: Raleigh, NC (7/24) and Virginia Beach, VA (7/25). Love & Theft will also perform both shows.

Visit Dierks.com for more information on the Tour page.

KEEPING OUR "EYES" ON THE PRIZE

First of all, I want to apologize for my absence last week. I didn't have nearly as much available internet time while I was in Hawaii, which I suppose is the sign of a great vacation. But now that I'm back on the mainland and COLD reality, I will give you all the latest Billboard chart info that will publish on Thursday!

Dierks Bentley's "I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes" moves up to #2 this week, inching to be within just one position of that wonderful #1 spot! It's a mere 1.34 million audience impressions behind Reba's "Consider me Gone," and still gaining ever-so-surely, but Tim McGraw's "Southern Voice" is packing a slightly mightier punch which could blind-side Dierks's endeavor for 3 straight #1s. Basically, it is likely to catch "Consider me Gone" this week (the chart week ends Sunday), but there is a very real possibility that "Southern Voice" could leapfrog it to take the top spot. But, if it can hang on for 6 more days, and edge out Tim, it will snag #1 next week! (For what it's worth, IWMYCYE was the most-played song last week -- 1 spin higher than Reba!)

Congress, if there were ever a time to get on the phone, email, tweet, text, heck -- DRIVE to your local stations, this is the week to do it! Request it on your morning drive. Request it on your evening commute. The higher the audience, the better we'll be. We've got 6 days to get this song to #1. Hopefully I will be back in one week with excellent news!

As an aside, I tweeted while I was in Hawaii that after being on Kauai for just 24 hours, we'd heard Dierks 5 times. This is particularly interesting because just 1.5 years ago when we were last on Kauai, they didn't even have a Country radio station! The Dierks love wasn't confined to Kauai, though, because as our vacation went on and took us to 2 more of the Islands, Dierks continued to be the artist we heard the most (yes, I kept track). We heard all but 3 of his singles, and many of his songs were heard more than once (everything off FTF, for instance). The two artists played just as much as Dierks? Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks. Unfortunately for us Dierks fans, the Hawaii stations don't report to Billboard or Mediabase -- if they did, I'm fairly certain we'd have the audience boost we need to get to #1!

~ Carrie S. (DBC Rep/Chart Reporter ~ NC)

DIERKS BENTLEY - A KENTUCKY COLONEL

According to our friends at CMTT, Halfway To Hazard raised over $200,000 for the Buckhorn Children Center and Family Services, during their Charity concert/trail ride in Crockettsville, KY, August 22. Among other artists, our DB Congress president, Dierks Bentley, generously gave up his Saturday night to perform for nearly 25,000 country music fans in attendance in support of this worthy cause.

Halfway to Hazard’s Chad Warrix says, “We were hoping to just double last year’s attendance of 7,500 and raise more than the $110,000. The fact we more than tripled attendance and doubled money raised this year is staggering! We applaud all the volunteers and artists for helping us in accomplishing and surpassing our goals.”

Last year Lt. Governor Mongiardo honored Warrix and David Tolliver by appointing them Kentucky Colonels, an honorary title bestowed upon nominees for their service and contributions to the community as the inaugural event drew over 7,500 people and raised over $110,000 for Buckhorn Children's Center. This year, Mongiardo announced Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear named August 22 and 23, 2009 as "Halfway to Hazard Days." He also honored Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, and GAC's Storme Warren as Kentucky Colonels for their support of the event.

After the trailride, the fields were flooded with fans to watch Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, Danielle Peck, Keith Anderson, Lee Brice, and Halfway to Hazard perform. Country Girl will be talking with the [H2H] guys later this week to discuss the secret to their successful fundraiser.

http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/54619187.html

WKYT said, "The music did not end until early Sunday morning after hours of entertainment from some of country's biggest and rising stars. We were given backstage access and talked to many of them. Bluegrass bands entertained the crowd as it continued to get larger Saturday afternoon. People came from as far away as Canada to hear people like superstar Tim McGraw, who flew in on a helicopter and was the first to perform during the evening concert.

McGraw says he's a big supporter of Halfway to Hazard. “The Halfway to Hazard boys, good friends of mine, known them for a long time, big fans of those guys, glad to help,” McGraw said.

Other stars were impressed by the venue and happy to support a good cause.

“Kind of a natural amphitheater thing, it's really cool! We're excited to be here and help out anyway we can,” Dierks Bentley said.

“I've known David and Chad for so long, they've been buddies we've been writing songs and playing all over Nashville before either one of us have record deals, so it feels good to do something with those guys, it's for such a great cause so it's good to be here,” Keith Anderson said."

Dori Hjalmarson at the herald-leader.com website posted an interesting photo and an article that caught my attention, of a fan who drove 1400 miles to attend the event. Her name struck a chord in my memory--I think she's also a DB Congress member in addition to a H2H fan!

Sarah Goddard, center, takes pictures of the ATV parade through Buckhorn, Ky., on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. Goddard, a member of the unofficial Halfway to Hazard fan club, the Daisies, drove 1,400 miles to attend The Halfway to Hazard Charity Trail Ride and concert.

Hey Sarah! Ya there? If that's you, please post a comment and let us know!

BENTLEY PERFORMS FOR KING GEORGE

The 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards is honoring George Strait as the "Artist of the Decade." The ACM Awards will be telecast live on Sunday, April 5, 2009 (8 pm Eastern), and Dierks will be presenting an award (which one is yet to be named).

The next day (April 6), a special concert will be filmed with a live audience from the Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The show will air on CBS on May 27.

Dierks (whom George Strait secured as his supporting artist during his 2004 and 2005 tours) will perform during the show and will be joined by an amazing lineup of country music superstars, including scheduled performances by Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, LeAnn Rimes, Blake Shelton, Lee Ann Womack, John Rich, Jack Ingram, Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and more-paying tribute to "The King of Country" George Strait and his legendary 25-year career.

If you live close enough to drive, or you can hop on a plane last minute, tickets are still available to the public for the April 6 event for $200, $150 and $100 through Ticketmaster.com for the all star country concert television taping. Proceeds of all sales benefit the Academy of Country Music Charitable Fund (ACMCF).

Strait is the fifth to receive the artist of the decade honor, after Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, Alabama and Garth Brooks.

HE...COULD...GO...ALL...THE...WAY!!!

...but it's gonna take an act of congress! The DB Congress, that is! Dierks Bentley is the Eastern Conference Champion in US103.5's March Men's online Madness! Can you believe it? And all of you made it happen!

Now it's up to all of us and our family, friends, co-workers, and their brothers and sisters and cousins...well...ask everybody you know to help vote for Dierks! He could go all the way!

In this last week of voting, Dierks is up against Tim McGraw for the Championship Round, so it will not be easy. In fact, right at this very moment, it is neck and knee (not close enough): 47.34%DB to 52.66% TM, but I have every confidence we will have sweet success!
This is no time to get Sideways! We'll press on because, there's so much to live for and so much to love in our president!
VOTE, VOTE, VOTE again and again and again and again and again!

DIERKS HONORED AT #1 PARTY

Photo Credit: Brian Tipton

CMT.com provided the particulars and photos of Dierks Bentley's March 6 Number One Party for Feel That Fire, his sixth single to hit the top spot on the charts.

In addition to Dierks, the other three co-writers of the song: Brett Beavers, Brad Warren and Brett Warren, along with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill joined in the celebration.

An ASCAP representative presented Bentley a guitar and a plaque for his latest achievement.

Flickr.com posted a video of Dierks' speech, and more photos.