American Soldier is a Toby Keith tribute led by DeWayne Terry of Burleson, Texas in the Dallas area. Originally from Oklahoma, not far from Toby Keith, DeWayne has played music his whole life and worked stages across the country from California to North Carolina. He also played some of the same bars in Texas and Oklahoma that Toby played in his early Easy Money years.
DeWayne moved to Nashville in the 1990s to pursue music full time. During that period he had Texas radio airplay, a staff writing job in Nashville, record deal offers, and interest from music executives. After a difficult stretch that included living in his truck and working as a welder fabricator, he stepped away from that path, moved west, and took a job with Boeing as an aircraft mechanic in Phoenix while continuing to play the club circuit there. He holds an Associate’s Degree in aerospace structures and had previously worked for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft right out of high school. He now lives in Texas, works on fighter jets by day, ranches in the evening, and still plays music at night.
For years, people told DeWayne he looked like Toby Keith and should do a tribute. He passed on those offers until he got a call from Frank Garrett of Left Of Centre, the house band at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill on the Las Vegas Strip for 13 years and the owner of the Country Artists Tribute show. Country Artists Tribute backs 14 different tribute artists and, according to the source material, has played sold out shows coast to coast for over 10 years. They already had two Toby Keith tributes and needed another because demand increased after Toby’s passing.
According to the source material, Left Of Centre has backed Toby Keith many times and had spoken with him about their tribute. Frank Garrett returned to DeWayne because of how naturally he looked and sounded like Toby without forcing it.
The show is named American Soldier in honor of Toby Keith’s love for the country and his support of soldiers here and overseas. For buyers, the concept is clear at a glance: a dedicated Toby Keith tribute fronted by a lifelong working musician with direct ties to the same regional bar circuit Toby came up through, and a path into the tribute format that came through an established Toby-connected backing camp rather than a novelty angle.
