Tradition

Next week is my annual Dierks Bentley concert, and if you know anything about me, this is the concert I look forward to every year. I have seen him multiple times. And every year is better in the year before. My mom and I go to the VIP every year, and we have a blast. 3 years ago I started calling it “TushyGate” because a friend joked that I was going to be arrested for climbing on the stage and grabbing Dierks’ ass (it hasn’t happened yet). But I have touched him, and I have seen him up close and personal.

When I was a kid, my grandma used to walk around singing the song, “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof. I never knew the meaning of that song until I have a tradition that mattered. There were others, but they happened around holidays, so I never thought much about them. But Dierks’ means a lot to me, and the fact that I share this tradition with my mom makes it mean even more. My mom and I struggle with each other. She tells me all the time I am difficult, and I tell her that I get it from her. Honestly, I am probably difficult. I am the child that has the most in common with my dad—the child she has the least in common with. I will admit that it’s a two-way street, and neither of us is the best at trying to do something the other likes. We love each other, but spending quality time together is not our forte.

This is how it happened….four years ago, I had the Country Megaticket. My friend and I had bought them together, but I still lived in Pennsylvania. So, I traveled home for the first two concerts of the summer—Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley. (Now, Dierks’ music has been important to me for some time. I told someone the other day his music just seems to fit what I need in my life at the time it comes out. His newest CD is a thinking CD, and that’s what I need in my life.) My friend got a job in another state and couldn’t go to the concerts with me, so the first year, Dierks’ first headlining tour, my parents went with me. We had a good time. My dad laughed and a scrung (scream/sung) in the lawn and danced like a crazy person (I can’t dance). That year, Dierks’ sang my favorite song, “Settle For a Slowdown.” That song gives me goosebumps to this day.

Three years ago, my mom decided she just wanted it to be me and her, and then we found out about the VIP, so we signed up for it to see what it was. We had a blast. That first year was awesome because he took requests from the audience, and I heard songs that he never gets to play like—more of the bluegrass music, which is what I love. I love bluegrass music. And there’s something amazing about being less than ten feet away from your favorite singer, and hearing him sing acoustically. Dierks is amazing acoustic. Tushygate ’16 is when I came up with the hashtag #dierksdrunk. I don’t drink, but I feel what I imagine drunk would feel like when I listen to his music. During the VIP show, he commented about how he liked the hashtag, and it stuck!

2017 Tushygate happened twice. The first time Mom and I went and had a blast. We met some Dierks’ fans I still talk to, which is awesome to have people like you, who you can connect with. In the concert in Raleigh, Mom had just had surgery and was in a lot of pain. I was uber protective of her because even though our relationship isn’t perfect, she is my mom, and she has done and continues to do a lot for me. Dalton was also there, but he was in the lawn. Now, he’s a member of the Lehman clan FOREVER. He’s been to a Dierks’ concert. It was also at the Raleigh concert I felt super violated by a man, and I left the concert in tears. But, I still loved the experience. After the concert, Mom, Dalton, and I stayed up until 3 am and just talked. I felt like I really bonded with him that night. He became my brother that night. I love that kid. And then a few weeks later I got an email that I won a Meet and Greet in Philly for Dierks, but I didn’t enter it. Finally, my sister Sam told me that my mom entered me in the contest on the sly. I still don’t know how she logged into my account, but I don’t care. I met Dierks Bentley. He put his arm around me. It’s the family joke now because I look awkward in the picture, but he surprised me when he put his arm around me. I went to that concert with Brady, and we bonded. We had so much fun acting like crazy people. My brother treated me well that night, and if I didn’t know he loved me before, I knew he loved me that night. We drove back after the concert ended, had a flat tire and a three hour detour, but we made it back in time to spend the last baseball game of the season (which was family appreciation day) with our family. I got Mom back. I surprised her by bringing Brady home, and I think that was the happiest she had been in a while. I was glad I could make her day.

This year is special because the concert is on Mom’s birthday. Her 55^th—double nickels!!!! We are going to make a special sign, and I am hoping Dierks will sing “Happy Birthday” to her. That would make her day really special. We have matching tank tops to wear. I entered us both in the Meet and Greet contest, and I am hoping we can both win. But if one of us wins, I will let her meet him because I already have, and she’s the reason I have. I am hoping the VIP show will be filled with songs from his new album. But no matter what he sings, I know memories will be made.

DIERKS TRADITION FACTS:

*Cook Out is always eaten after the concert is over. I order the same thing every year, too: a chicken strips tray with hush puppies, onion rings, and a diet coke.

*I always paint my fingers and toes black because a line in one of my favorite songs, “Feel that Fire” has the lyric “she wants her nails painted black.”

*Mom has collected the set list for me of every VIP show we go to as a memento. The one from Raleigh last year hangs on the door to one of the bedrooms in her house.

*I always take a #dierksdrunk picture after the concert, so everyone can see my exhilaration. The one taken after the Philly concert last year is one of my favorite pictures of all time. I feel pretty, and I love the memories it conjures.

*Every year we have done the VIP I have managed to injure myself pretty badly beforehand. In 2016, I fell on the sidewalk and took a chunk out of my palm. I still have a scar from the fall. Stupid Holly Springs sidewalks! Last year, I slipped on a seat at a baseball game and landed on another seat, so my leg was black and blue for the concert. It hurt to sit. I am not planning on getting injured this year. The concert is normally in mid-July, and around that time this year, I woke up with a huge, mysterious bruise on my leg, so I am hoping that counts as the injury for this year. It’s almost gone (3 weeks later). Lol, I never thought I was clumsy, but maybe I am!

I can’t explain why his music is so important to me, but it is. And I hope everyone can find a musician whose lyrics and music impact their life in the same way. It’s amazing feeling, and it shows how important music is in our lives.