Life Backstage Not Always Glamorous

Country music artist Dierks Bentley rocked at the Calaveras County Fair and Frog Jump Jubilee to a packed house Saturday night.

The up-and-coming country star and his band were in Angels Camp Saturday for a headline show at the fair´s main stage .

With two hit songs off his latest CD getting lots of radio air play, Bentley has already developed a large following. And his show in the Mother Lode proved he can pack them in.

Bentley, a Phoenix, Arizona native, is currently on tour as the opening act for country legend George Strait. When Bentley´s and his four piece band played his first hit song “What Was I Thinkin” the crowd jumped to their feet. He also performed his latest hit, “My Last Name.”

But, glamor seemed miles ways away during the series of small shows at county fairs and concert halls. His “on the way to super-star status ” means long bus trips, quick flights to distance venues, and little glamor from the bright lights seen by his fans.

Bentley did fly into Angels Camp on Saturday to play his concert Before the concert, Bentley admitted to hopping on his Harley Davidson motorcycle and touring Calaveras County and the town of Murphys.

After a sound check, the lanky, curly haired twenty-something took time out to eat back stage. Back stage before the concert is where the glamor of Country Western stardom and show business meets reality of the small county fair venue.

Behind a wind-blown black stage curtain, Bentley, his band and crew sat in folding chairs at tables chowing on catered deli platters, cold pasta and meatballs, trying for some solitude.

Before the concert, Bentley signed autographs and met back stage with local residents, the media, fair royalty and VIPs.

The concert was sponsored by Sonora radio station, Today´s Country 93.5 KKBN.