American Soldier is a Toby Keith tribute fronted 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 performed around the country from California to North Carolina. He also played some of the same bars in Texas and Oklahoma that Toby played early on with Easy Money.
In the 1990s, DeWayne moved to Nashville to pursue music full time. During that period he had Texas radio airplay, a staff writing job in Nashville, and record deal offers, but left after years of trying to break through. He then moved west, took a job with Boeing as an aircraft mechanic in Phoenix, and continued playing the club circuit there. He has an associate’s degree in aerospace structures and also 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 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 was looking for another Toby Keith tribute artist because of the demand following Toby’s passing.
According to the source material, Left Of Centre has backed 14 different tribute artists and played sold out shows coast to coast for over 10 years. The band had already worked with two Toby Keith tribute artists and needed one more. The source material also states that Left Of Centre backed Toby Keith himself many times and had spoken with him about doing their tribute to him. Frank Garrett remembered that DeWayne naturally looked and sounded like Toby without trying.
The show is named American Soldier in honor of Toby Keith’s love for his country and his history of performing for soldiers here and overseas. For buyers, the premise is straightforward: a Toby Keith tribute built around an artist with a long playing background, direct regional ties to Oklahoma and Texas, and a personal connection to the material through years of being compared to Toby Keith on stage and off.
