Either Dierks Bentley or Billy Currington Needs to get a Brazilian Blowout.





Billy Currington



Dierks Bentley


I know I've hit that age where even the most sighted of us take a trip to the optometrist, but Dierks Bentley and Billy Currington really look alike. Last night I was watching the Kenny Rogers special on GAC and Billy Currington came on. He was talking and I said to myself, "What's up with Dierks Bentley's suddenly strong Southern accent?" It took me longer than I care to admit to realize my mistake.

I'm a bigger Dierks Bentley fan so when I see either one, I automatically think it's Bentley. They don't sound alike, but my eyes take over for my ears when there is visual information. So I did a google search expecting to find many references to the curly doppelgangers. I did find a few, but the most ridiculous (before I wrote this post) is the FB group Billy Currington and Dierks Bentley are both DEAD Sexy with it's odd spelling of "gurls", use of lowercase letters and combining of the sacred and profane?

While perusing images on Google of the two singers, I learned another way to tell them apart. If the Currington/Bentley character is shirtless and pumped, it's Currington. I didn't find a Bentley photo with more than two buttons worth of chest. Currington does usually wear a shirt though, so this test only works if the subject is shirtless.

Don't bother ordering the back issue if you missed it. Apparently Currington kept his shorts on.

What would really be helpful is if one of these guys (preferably Currington) got a Brazilian blowout, but then we may confuse him with Keith Urban or one of the guys in Rascal Flatts.

When you see Dierks Bentley or Billy Currington, which do you think it is?

Oy, They Got Me. Facebook has Changed My Consumer Behavior.

Lately my Facebook page has more posts from bands, musicians, and radio stations than friends.  A friend from my high school class, Seth Goldstein, is an expert and entrepreneur in the area of social media.  He is definitely on the leading edge while I am following far in the rear. He sometimes posts his thoughts on social networking and advertising. Seeing these posts made me realize that people are thinking long and deep about something most of us just consider a nuisance. I say to myself, "He isn't talking about me. I'm never clicking on any of those FB ads. Those advertisers think they've got my number, but they consistently miss the mark." I even had confirmation. A while back, probably because I googled horseback riding lessons, all of the ads on my FB page became horse related.  I'm not a horsey kind of gal. I'm actually a little afraid of horses. These horse related ads persist, months later.

Then, the other day, an ad for Sean Patrick McGraw popped up. I was skeptical but I couldn't resist. I clicked. I listened to the one song I could listen to on his website, "My So Called Life", and the next thing I knew I was spending 99 cents.  I am a very impulsive and loose music purchaser, so let's not overthink this purchase, but I am going to concede that they got me. I even "liked" him. Now today, I see his status is "My So Called Life" hits country radio TODAY. Call your local stations!!" I don't call radio stations to make requests but, dang, I have been sucked right into his little marketing ploy.

I think of the time I bought a t-shirt and koozie from Joe Nichols. He posted something about his website's merchandise sale, like he's doing his fans a favor.   I wanted a t-shirt but he didn't have my size at his concert. I went to his website, found my size, added the koozie (which I do love) and typed in my credit card number. I don't regret that purchase, but I wouldn't have made it if it hadn't been for that post.

Other examples are Toby Keith's "Bullets in the Gun" and Kenny Chesney's "Hemingway's Whiskey", two new albums being released within a few days of each other. I see both artists' posts, or rather, posts by their people. They are promoting their albums ad nauseum and I bought both albums within a week of their releases.  This is very uncharacteristic behavior. Usually I download albums in pieces.

Now, to my surprise, I find myself occasionally voting in a peoples' choice award called The ACAs (American Country Awards).  A few of the nominated artists encourage their fans via FB posts to vote for them at least once every day. I rarely do things like vote in online contests. It requires registering initially, signing in each time, and voting over several pages.  I have always assumed that there is some very obsessive group of fans to whom such tasks were automatically delegated. That was not my job.

I've had enough. I'm about to hide the posts of all of the artists I've "liked" on FB, apart from the ones who do the posting themselves and occasionally say something mildly interesting (and I'm using the word "interesting" loosely).  Dierks Bentley, Jaron, Jason Michael Carroll, Jace Everett and Joe Nichols will make the cut .  The first one to be blocked is Jason Aldean.  "Vote for this. Download this. Buy this. Request this." That's enough, Mr. Aldean. Sing a good song, and I'll listen.

I've successfully avoided the distractions of Twitter but am considering giving it another shot.  I've heard a number of artists talk about how they like communicating with their fans via Twitter and am a little curious. Am I just asking for it?

It's Oct. 29th. The post's title has been changed to reflect that FB is the social networking website I use. So far I've hidden Trace Adkins, Toby Keith, Kenney Chesney, and Jason Aldean.  Now that I'm paying attention, I will applaud Dierks Bentley, The Band Perry and Lady Antebellum for making and effort on Facebook to connect with their fans in addition to their fan's wallets.