(Nov. 20) - Well, it's one way to get a gig.

Bryan Maher, 60, was signing up for an open mike night at the Cool Beanz coffee shop in Saint James, N.Y., Wednesday when a vehicle came crashing through the front window. The driver was Maher's dog.

"I said, 'My God, that's my van,' and there's Bentley sitting behind the driver's wheel with his tongue hanging out," Maher told AOL News.

The singer-songwriter had left his van running, and the sharpei-boxer mix knocked it into drive. Nobody was hurt.

The store's proprietor, Patricia McCarthy, was "so gracious about it because she could see I was upset," Maher said. McCarthy offered Maher free coffee and invited him to return Saturday night to play.

As for Bentley, Maher said, "He's a local celebrity now."