Dierks Bentley’s Hot Country Knights Make CRS Debut

Muscle Tees, Mullets, and Mustaches consumed The Stage last night as Dierks Bentley’s ’90s country cover band, Hot Country Knights, made their live debut for 2015 Country Radio Seminar. The frontman of the band, Douglas “Big Rhythm Doug” Douglason (Bentley), kicked off the show with Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee” and continued with fan favorite throwbacks such as Marty Stuart’s “Honky Tonkin’s What I Do Best,” John Michael Montgomery’s “Be My Baby Tonight” and “Sold,” and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart.”

The band brought up several friends to keep the show rockin’ including Dallas Houston (Randy Houser), who sang “Watermelon Crawl,” Ronnie Bunns (Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley) joined in for “My Maria,” and Shelby Shelton (Miranda Lambert) took the lead on Shania Twain’s “Who’s Bed Have Your Boots Been Under.” Kip Moore also made an appearance (not in costume) for “Dust on the Bottle.”

The show ended with a pre-recorded taping of fans shouting “encore” to which the band responded by playing Travis Tritt’s “T-r-o-u-b-l-e.” Bentley and a Hot Country Knights bandmember proceeded to get into a comedic “fight” at the end of the encore until they fell off the stage and exited the venue.

Mercury Records Nashville artist Canaan Smith opened for the Hot Country Knights, singing his latest single, “Love You Like That.”