Dierks Bentley Has Serviceman Seeing Stars (and Stripes)

Coast Guard Captain Jeff Yarosh's love for his country runs deep, a value instilled in him by his dad. "My dad raised us with the central belief that nothing is more important than God, family and country." Jeff recognizes this same set of values in his favorite artist, Dierks Bentley (especially with headlines such as the military reunion meet and greet). So when the opportunity to possibly sing with Dierks came up for Jeff in 2014, he was all in.

Jeff was nominated by his boss, Rory Souther, to be the Coast Guard finalist in the ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute To The Troops. Dierks was featured in the event with artists such as Carrie Underwood and Florida Georgia Line. One member from each military branch was selected to perform with the artist of their choice at the concert.

Thank you to Zimbio.com for the photos from the Salute to the Troops event.

Jeff ultimately wasn't selected, but his submission video seen here is still bringing smiles (a video he filmed with his daughter, Evelyn, who shares her name with Dierks' oldest daughter):




At the What The Hell Tour concert last month in Bristow, Va., Jeff's wife, Caren, had the opportunity to share her husband's story with Dierks at a meet and greet. After, Dierks told Caren he needed to look this video up online.

"He asked her for my name, and since he had nothing else to write on or with, he used the Sharpie he was using for autographs to write my name on his forearm," Jeff says. "A lot of people can say they got an autograph from Dierks, but I get to claim that he wrote MY name on him!"

To top it off, Jeff adds "Dierks [did] me the honor of accepting the gift my wife gave him: a t-shirt from the ship I just had command of--the best Band of Brothers I've ever been a part of."

Caren Yarosh w/ Dierks Bentley at the June 9 Bristow, Va., What The Hell Tour meet and greet.

The Yarosh's story, no doubt, resonated with Dierks, given
1. Wish It Would Break is a song he wished would have been his first single
2. He genuinely appreciates his fans
3. Patriotism and support of our service men and women are foundational for Dierks

"To see Dierks giving back and supporting the troops and our veterans, I think it's why we can all agree that Dierks is one of the good guys," Jeff says. "Home is a reminder that we shouldn't take the idea for granted that freedom is something which needs to be cultivated and protected."
Dierks understood how big that anthem could be.

Red, white and blue clearly run strong in Dierks' veins.  Just as strong is his love for his fans.

"I sat near the exit and watched each of [the meet and greet winners] as they came out," Jeff says. "The smiles they had on their faces were as wide as the Grand Canyon. Such a little thing, but it clearly meant a lot to those people. He should be proud of that."

After all, he's the one who taught us, "To the things I believe in, my faith, your love, our freedom."


Jessica Borrelli
DB Congress Rep, WA
@AllTheWayToMe

DBTV - Episode 8 - Big White Technologies

Watch as Dierks Bentley shows us how the great innovations from his Big White Technologies will catch on to the general public! Listen for the Big White story behind the song, "Wish It Would Break."

Dierks Sings Free & Easy for Chase in KC

Clint Bond, aka DB Congress rep CMB7869 from Kansas, bought a fan club membership for his son, Chase, when he heard Dierks was coming to his city, in hopes of winning the 5-year-old a Meet and Greet with the man himself. His hopes turned into reality.

"He is pretty shy so once he realized we were meeting Dierks he started hiding," Clint told me about Chase. "He plays Rock Band all the time and the only songs he likes to sing are: Free and Easy, What was I Thinkin' and Ghostbusters. He really likes Dierks but this was the first concert in the area for a couple years that wasn't 21 and over.

Once Dierks got there, Chase got really nervous. He had been planning on what he would say but once he got up there he got nervous. Dierks was really cool. Gave him a high five, asked what his favorite song was and everything. I was able to get Chase to take a picture with him. Dierks told him after he said that Free and Easy was his favorite song that he would play it just for him."

Everybody say, "Awwwwwwwwww!"

"Dierks was of course awesome last night," Clint said matter-of-factly. "I tried to get some videos of songs I didn’t already have. I got him doing 'Rebel Yell' which I had never seen him do before, even though I did know he loves Billy Idol."

Before 'Rebel Yell,' Dierks told the crowd: "Remember that first concert I was telling you about? I'm gonna take you there."

We've been waiting years for DB to add a fiddle player to the band! Check out Fiddlin' Dan Hochhalter playing a killer 'Fiddlin' Around':

'Wish It Would Break' is probably my all time favorite. Glad D has been adding it to the set list lately:

Thanks, Clint, for the sweet story about your son and for capturing these rare memories on video!

Dierks in NYC Day 1: Bowery Ballroom 10/18

DB Congress was in full force at each of Dierks Bentley's four consecutive days/nights in New York City last week. Enjoy their stories! (Photo Credit: Stephanie Lanham)

Day One - October 18, 2010 (Bowery Ballroom)

"An amiable country star from Nashville, Mr. Bentley sings, cleanly and earnestly, about family life and, in “What Was I Thinkin’,” of ogling a woman in a little white tank top. He’s dedicated to exploring both sides of the outlaw coin — the sinner and the savior, as established by Hank Williams — and does so with verve and wit. All these shows are sold out..."

-New York Times

Renee Glennon represents Connecticut for the DBC and she's got quite a story for you:

Monday October 18th began as any NYC outing for me, drive 2 hours to Stamford CT,take the 40 min. train into the city, take the subway...walk and walk for what seems like forever to shop, relax and eat dinner before attending an evening show. The thing that made this trip so special was it was my first time seeing Dierks Bentley perform in an intimate venue in New York and the first night of his 4-day bender in the Big Apple. On the Amtrack into Grand Central I sent a tweet out from my phone about my evenings plans, NEVER in a million years did I think the dude himself would respond back.

After a year of tweets to @Dierksbentley and finally a response....I was ELATED! I was bargain shopping & haggling with vendors on Canal St. when my pocket vibrated. It was a tweet/response from Dierks saying he was heading down to Little Italy for lunch himself and that he was "needing a break from making up the evenings setlist...taking a walk to get some fresh air." Suddenly every curly headed man in plaid that walked by me on the city streets made my heart stop! Us CT girls never did bump into Dierks, but who really cares. We still couldn't believe I got a tweet response. I knew this night would be magical for me...the miles & miles are always worth if for DB.

@CTcowgirl: On my way to NYC for some shopping, Little Italy & @Dierksbentley concert at Bowery Ballroom :)

@DierksBentley: @CTcowgirl right on! headed there myself.about a 20 minute walk to Bowery. been holed up working on setlist...liking it a lot. need air! #fb

So my concert buddy Becky and I eat a delish dinner, grab a canolli and head to the venue. The line was about 40 people deep which dampened my hopes of getting up close enough to see. General Admission is always a little sketchy. Low and behold the bartender told us girls to stand at a back entrance, and when the doors opened we bolted towards the stage. FRONT and CENTER...elbows under the microphone. I was floating on cloud one billion! I also was standing right next to three other DBC reps that I had never met until then & they introduced themselves--from all ends of the US they came to see Dierks. Great girls...the congress always brings us together eventually.

This concert was sold out and the people were really packed in. Bowery Ballroom is a gorgeous venue. Dierks had a great opening act that really got everyone warmed up, but didn't take the stage until 10 pm. He was full of early evening energy like he'd been waiting all day to come out with guns blazing as he performed his regular crowd pleasing concert for this city crowd. I was psyched because he stopped the show to point out his "from the beginning fans"--the Congress girls in the front--and sang a few songs that I had never heard him perform live in concert until then: "Wish It Would Break," which got a tremendous applause from the audience and immediately followed it with "My Love Will Follow You." I sang every word; it brought me back to when I first listened to his first CD over and over and over. Oh how the years have gone by. His music brings the memory right back though.

After Free And Easy, Dierks tells the story of how he came to write "Wish It Would Break," an old school favorite of the fan club's (and DB knows and recognizes that fact!) that never got released as a single, but should have.



Dierks is a real comedian though, I have to say. He had me roaring laughing that night, making fun of his new guitarist's T-Shirt that had Randy Travis' head on it. Dierks totally thought it was Arnold Schwarzenegger, getting the entire audience to scream "Hi (name)..." to every other single band member, and telling funny stories about each bandmember's nicknames and busting their chops, and making fun of Steve and his pinstriped pants or as Dierks called them "Easter pants." He really interacted with the audience that night too. Towards the end of the show DB was rolling laughing after he pointed out a guy in the audience that looked almost exactly like his "hero" Will Ferrell. The entire crowd was in hysterics. This guy was almost identical to the "Old School" star. DB seemed very giddy that evening. It's great to see him truly having an excellent time up there.

He broke down a couple of bluegrass songs off of the Up On The Ridge CD and the city crowd turned completely hillbilly country. They loved every bit of it. The band seemed pleased that their audience welcomed the acoustic jam session as they sang "Fiddlin Around," and other covers of bluegrass favorites from a long, long ago.

Of course my favorite parts personally were every time Dierks gave me some front row love. He pointed his finger down during Come A Little Closer... "girl it's right here at our fingertips" ...and joined fingertips with me and then repeated the same motion during Free & Easy "...if you only get to go around ONE time" Fingertip again. He knew I'd get it.

A single fingertip touch from Dierks is like an all over hug for me!



The very ending of the concert was interesting--not sure if the guys had too much Patron Tequila, but it got real rowdy. All of a sudden a Will Ferrell look-alike was pulled up onstage by Dierks. Then a girl with a little white tank top, then another then another, and another, then a GUY with a little white tank top on. It was an all out party.





By this time Dierks was trying to orchestrate a final bow with the boys and it just was like a wave, up down up on the right down on the left up on the left down on the right...Dierks fell to his knees in laughter.



Another amazing trip to the city and incredible show--one I'll never forget and it all started with a tweet from D.

The night ended with a tailgate handout of beers to a crowd of people on the sidewalk & Dierks Bentley songs blasting in the city streets from the Will Ferrell look-alike. He was an instant celebrity thanks to our other favorite curly headed Comedian Dierks and looked just as elated as I was for having such a memorable evening.

Never a dull moment in NYC, and this was only night one...

Thanks for sharing, Renee! Stay tuned for the Day Two - City Winery blog!

A ROSE WHISPERS A PRAYER

Wisconsin rep, Alicia (aroseluvsdierks), met up with fellow Dierks Bentley fan-clubbers, Jenny & Stacy (IL), and Tracie & Tina (MI), for a double DRT (Dierks Road Trip) in Harris, Michigan Oct. 30 and 31 (Halloween).

Alicia starts her review out with her Meet and Greet experience. Here We Go!

"So my M&G was Friday night at 7:15. I figured it would be a quick one because there were radio people after us and the show started at 8 pm with no opener. It was so small backstage and we had to just have the M&G in a hallway. It was really rushed, of course this is no fault of Dierks and I’m always grateful for the opportunity to talk with him even if it’s only for 30 seconds.

I brought my picture from the Tinley M&G for him to sign. He looked at it and said “I remember this, it was recently.” I said,”Yeah, it’s from Tinley Park, IL” and he remembered that we (Ronna, Mona, Jenny and I) went to Indy the next night as well. (Great memory, Dierks!) He answered a few quick questions and I asked if he was going to do Better Believer that night and he said yes. I was thrilled! I am NOT posting my M&G pic because I look horrible but here’s a beautiful pic of Dierks during it.

Dierks hit the stage around 8:10. Tracie and I had 4th row seats, but Tracie ditched me (LOL). Just kidding Tracie. Awesome show! It was so great to see a full Dierks set. Lot’s of songs I’ve never had the chance to hear live, like, Wish It Would Break (YAY…finally I hear that live, it’s one of my favs), Little Heartwrecker, Life on the Run, and Better Believer. I made my concert calls…Ronna [*Thank you!], David and Heather! He played about an hour and 40 min.

Tracie and Tina (Tracie’s twin sister) arrived after the show and we all hit the bars! We were just having a great time! Jay and a few of the DB crew were in the bar. Then Rod and Dierks showed up. We didn’t bother Dierks; he was surrounded and he saw us so we figured if he wanted to come over he would. He ended up going to play Blackjack.

We did hang out with Rod for quite awhile. He sat down at our table and we were just chatting and drinking. We all ended up going into the 2nd bar where there was a live band and danced and had a blast. I even danced with Rod when the band ended and Lot a Leavin' Left to Do came on! Totally fun! I wish we had a pic of that but Tracie’s camera battery died and I didn’t have mine downstairs. Then it was last call and time to wind down for the night.

On Saturday, we went down to the box office to get Tina a ticket for the show. She was joking around with the box office lady and said, I’ll take 1st row please. We all started laughing. Then the lady goes “Sure, I have Section B, Row 1, Seat 13, 14, 15.” So here we are staring at this women like she’s from another planet because we cannot believe what we are hearing. So needless to say we jumped all over that! I did feel really bad because there were only 3 seats and four of us and Jenny didn’t end up with one, she had 5th row. Next time Jenny, I swear!

So Jenny and Tracie had their M&G’s and then we all went in for the show. We had front row center! We got the low down from the security guys on which song they were allowing us to go right up to the stage so we were prepared. Dierks came out to Sideways and we were singing and dancing and having a blast. Rod was wearing a Pimp costume! He was the only one dressed up.

We were getting all kinds of love from Dierks! He motioned for Tracie to come up to the stage (I think she was in shock, I had to push her…LOL) during How Am I Doin’ and did a little spin from the stage with her to 'I danced along.' It was awesome! So we get another song I’ve never heard live--Sweet and Wild--and that’s when we get the all clear to hit the stage. We were front and center! We got lots of handholding and life was great!

Then Dierks and Rod bring out the stools and did Wish it Would Break, so we call Erin for her concert call. When the song was over Tracie and I yelled “Dierks!” and he looks down. I say “Say Hi to Erin.” He takes my phone and says “Hi Erin, where are you in the back?” Tracie and I say, “She’s in Florida.” So then he says something about Rod wearing leopard panties and hands me back the phone. Erin will have to blog her reaction because it’s so great!

So they start to play You Hold Me Together acoustically. Dierks was literally singing and looking right into my eyes and I was just smiling and singing back! It was seriously an awesome moment. Little did I know it wouldn’t be the biggest moment of my night.

Dierks decides to sing Beautiful World so he tells a little about the song and he starts to sing. Ummm…totally WRONG words. LOL. He starts laughing and says “I don’t even remember the words,” so he looks down at us and I start to help him out by singing the words to him. So he starts to play and sing again and then all of a sudden stops, hands me the mic and says “You sing it from the beginning.” OMG!!! I’m still getting a stomach ache just thinking about it. I was like “from the beginning?” and literally my mind went totally blank.

I was in major panic mode! For those of you who know me well I know this is hard for you to believe because A.) I LOVE TO SING, B.) I know every Dierks lyric ever recorded, C.) I am NEVER at a loss for words! Well guess what people? I totally choked! I looked over at Tracie and she says “I don’t know it, sing Row Your Boat.” Now all I can think is Row Row Row Your Boat, Gently Down the Stream. AHHHHHH… so I look to Stage Dive (Stacy) and she gives me this look like don’t even think of giving me that mic and starts shaking her head no (she’s got a great story of her own but I’ll let her tell ya). Finally this like 15 year old goes “I’ll do it” so I handed over the mic. She didn’t really know the words very well but at least she was able to sing something. I can’t believe I blanked!

It was still a totally awesome night and one for the Dierks history books! Maybe someday I’ll get to redeem myself!

P.S. Thanks Ronna for your Facebook comment, it made me feel so much better… 'and sometimes the best we can do is just to whisper a prayer,' that’s exactly how I felt! "

[You're welcome!]

LAST CALL BALL V - THE CONCERT

When the trivia was almost over, Coop said Dierks would be out in about 17 minutes, but I don't think it was even 5. Dierks just came walking out like he was part of the production crew--no introduction, no announcement, just him and his guitar. "Hey guys how ya doin?" Caught me by surprise. I thought I was gonna have a few minutes to eat, but forget that!

Of course the place went wild. Rod and Tim and Dierks played acoustic the whole set--no Set List--all songs were pretty much on request. Robbie and Steve came out and made an appearance before they started.



A man of his word, Dierks had promised previously to sing "Don't Leave Me In Love" and he did it beautifully! His voice the entire 70 minutes was at his ultimate best...the words though...he sometimes changed up...uh...for effect, right?

That's what I love about Dierks--he's NOT perfect--that's how he stays down to earth with his fans, who are not perfect either--at least I know I'm not. He laughed it off and at one point even apologized and said he was embarrased for forgetting the words, but dude--no need to be sorry! We were the one's throwing out requests that you probably hadn't sung in forever. We totally love you for trying--just hearing your voice was enough! Our love in unconditional.

So, without further rambling, I have a few videos for you below. The complete set list is here, too, and Nid has the entire audio from XM Radio for you on dierksfans.com.

Don't Leave Me In Love (video)
Wish It Would Break (video)
Distant Shore
Life On The Run
Come A Little Closer
So So Long
Hey Jordan (video--highlight of the evening)
I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes
Free And Easy (Down The Road I Go)
Better Believer (video)
Cab Of My Truck
What Was I Thinking?

Dont Leave Me In Love:

Wish It Would Break:

Hey Jordan:

Better Believer:




End of What Was I Thinkin' and final comments before M&G:

There are more LCB V videos on YouTube.

Next blog...the congress!

DB, JAKE, WISH IT WOULD BREAK

Here's an oldie but goodie! Thanks to Stephanie in CA for finding it on Yahoo.com and posting on dierks.com. From Capitol Records, 2004--retro Dierks and Jake. Enjoy!