07.29.05 (MusicPortal.com) He wasn't even thinking about an invitation to the Grand Ole Opry at the time, but it was in the middle of a show at the House Of Blues in Los Angeles that Country singer DIERKS BENTLEY got the word that he was chosen to join the cast of the venerable radio show. According to Opry spokeswoman Jessie Schmidt, Grand Ole Opry veteran Marty Stuart walked onstage about an hour into Bentley's set and said: "Will you do it? Will you marry the Grand Ole Opry?" "Hell, yeah!" Bentley answered, after which he had a hard time getting through his next song. "This is the greatest night of my life," DIERKS BENTLEY told the crowd. "I had no idea what was going on." Bentley's formal induction will be on October 1st. Bentley, 29, released his self-titled debut album in 2003 and hit paydirt with 'What Was I Thinkin,' a humorous song about a guy who couldn't resist running off with a girl in a "little white tank top" despite her shotgun-toting father. The Grand Ole Opry, which turns 80 this year, is the longest continuously running radio show in the country. Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Roy Acuff, Johnny Cash, Kitty Wells, Bill Monroe and Elvis Presley are just some of the thousands of artists who have performed and become stars there. DIERKS BENTLEY had lived most of his life in two places before last year: Phoenix, Arizona, where he grew to teenhood, and Nashville, Tennessee, where he spent eight years transforming himself from an unimposing guitarist and singer to a serious Country artist. Then, in his first full year as a major label act, Bentley spent no less than 300 days on the road, visiting some of the country's most remote communities: Rock Springs, Wyoming; Elma, Washington; Porterfield, Wisconsin, and scores of little burgs in the Southern United States. For DIERKS BENTLEY, there could have been no better way to discover America. When his driver offered to put a TV monitor up by the front of the bus where Bentley liked to sit, he declined. The country going by outside the vast windshield was better than any widescreen television, he said. That bus arrived at dozens of dirt tracks in dozens of dusty towns and was greeted by fair boards wearing matching jackets and brimming with home town pride. DIERKS BENTLEY began to discover that he was, in many cases, the biggest thing to happen in the town in months, and if that's possible with Country music, he finds that absolutely amazing. "I want to wake up every morning thinking 'I've got to make the most of this day,'" he says of his open-armed embrace of the road.
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07.08.05 (MusicPortal.com) Country music sensations BIG & RICH are slated to kick off an extensive U.S. tour at the beginning of next month that will run through the end of October. Tour Dates: 08/06 Dallas, TX [Smirnoff Music Center] • 08/07 Little Rock, AR [Alltel Pavilion] • 08/12 Cleveland, OH [Blosson Music Center] • 08/13 Cincinnati, OH [Riverbend Music Center] • 08/14 Columbus, OH [Germaine Amphitheater] 08/17 Louisville, KY [Freedom Hall] • 08/19 Philadelphia, PA [Tweeter Center At The Waterfront] • 08/20 Washington, DC [Nissan Pavilion At Stone Ridge] • 08/21 Darien Lakes, NY [Darien Lake Performing Arts Center] • 08/25 Birmingham, AL [Verizon Wireless Music Center] • 08/26 Charlotte, NC [Verizon Wireless Amphitheater] • 08/27 Raleigh, NC [Alltel Pavilion At Walnut Creek] • 09/02 Detroit, MI [DTE Energy Music Center] • 09/03 Pittsburgh, PA [Post-Gazette Pavilion At Star Lake] • 09/04 Saratoga Springs, NY [Saratoga Performing Arts Center] • 09/09 Kansas City, MO [Verizon Wireless Amphitheater] • 09/10 Chicago, IL [Tweeter Center] • 09/11 St. Louis, MO [UMB Bank Pavilion] • 09/23 Holmdel, NJ [PNC Bank Arts Center] • 09/24 Hershey, PA [Hershey Park Stadium] • 09/25 Boston, MA [Tweeter Center For The Performing Arts] • 10/01 Indianapolis, IN [Verizon Wireless Music Center] • 10/06 Albuquerque, NM [Journal Pavilion] • 10/07 Denver, CO [Pepsi Center] • 10/08 Portland, OR [Clark County Amphitheatre] • 10/14 Salt Lake City, UT [USANA Amphitheatre] • 10/15 Seattle, WA [White River Amphitheatre] • 10/16 Boise, ID [Idaho Center] • 10/18 Fresno, CA [Save Mart Center - Cal State University] • 10/20 Sacramento, CA [Sleep Train Amphitheatre] • 10/21 Mountain View, CA [Shoreline Amphitheatre] • 10/22 Los Angeles, CA [Verizon Wireless Amphitheater] • 10/23 San Diego, CA [Coors Amphitheatre] • 10/28 Atlanta, GA [HiFi Buys Amphitheatre] • 10/29 Tampa, FL [Ford Amphitheatre] • 10/30 West Palm Beach, FL [Sound Advice Amphitheatre]

[Country News: June 2005]
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