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[Architect]

Dee Jay Silver benefits from the Vegas country boom

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Dee Jay Silver returns to his Las Vegas residencies at Foundation Room and Rehab this month.
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It used to be that a couple times every year, Vegas would go country. The ACM Awards or PBR World Finals would roll into town, and the music would follow. That’s when Dee Jay Silver would take over.

The first and only DJ to be signed to a major Nashville record label, Silver almost moved to Vegas before a label deal and regular touring gig with chart-topper Jason Aldean kept him in place. “Twice a month I still try to talk my wife into moving out there,” he jokes.

But these days, country music is always present in Las Vegas, with the genre’s top stars making the Strip a regular stop and Silver doing the same. As far as the DJ is concerned, country is part of the resurgence of open format.

“It’s funny how it moves in cycles, hip-hop to EDM to pop to rock, and it seems country is on the forefront,” he says. “But country’s not what it was 10 years ago. It’s younger, more friendly, with a more diverse audience. And it’s a better-looking crowd from all walks of life. It’s not just lonely women and ugly dogs.”

Still, Silver strategizes his sets in a way few DJs do. Who else could drop Dierks Bentley, Tiësto and DJ Snake into the same mix? “My theory is, there are no boundaries. If you don’t like that song, go get a drink, because there’s another one coming in two minutes. I try to leave the crowd saying, ‘Holy sh*t, I can’t believe he played that.’”

Silver returns to his residencies at the Foundation Room and Rehab this month, playing eight shows leading up to the ACM party on April 2 before hitting the road with Aldean, Kane Brown and Chris Young. He’s also prepping his own new music for upcoming release.

“This is really something different,” he says of his recent work. “The goal was to make every song different, and I’m just in love with it; I can’t turn it off. We’re just trying to take our game up a notch and give people a different way to listen.”

Dee Jay Silver at the Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay, March 4.

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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

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