“As far as the creative process of making the album, some of the things I look back on are just the fun of writing the songs, know, and also the pounding your head against the wall part of writing the songs. But a couple of really great days in particular where I was with some of my really great friends in Nashville, guys like Luke Dick and John Randall and Chase McGill, but also with write-man, Steven Wilson Jr., who I’d never written with before, and just the excitement of going into those writing appointments, trying to hope that we got something decent. And of course, being in the studio with musicians that I’ve worked with a bunch in the past and honing in that sound and just, the whole process of making an album is so fun if you really put the work in and put the time in. It’s just seeing it go from literally nothing, a pen and paper and a guitar to seeing that record come to life and eventually get shrink-wrapped and a vinyl record be sitting in Walmart or somewhere like that. It’s just such a cool process to be part of. there’s all the little pieces along the way that make it so much fun.”
Ahead of today’s release of multi-Platinum entertainer Dierks Bentley’s 11th studio album BROKEN BRANCHES (MCA), praise has already rolled in for the 11-track collection that’s rooted in raw honesty and storytelling, embracing life’s outliers and underdogs with songs about resilience, change, and connection. Earning 5 out of 5 stars, the album features cross-generational lineup of collaborators—including John Anderson, Riley Green, Miranda Lambert and Stephen Wilson Jr. BROKEN BRANCHES is a bold reaffirmation of Bentley’s heartfelt grit paired with standout musicianship and is available today HERE.
“With the aid of a band of peerless musicians, acclaimed producers and generations of top-tier collaborators, he’s linked country’s roots to its present in the most seamless and timeless-feeling manner possible.” – Tennessean
“On his eleventh LP, he examines what drives young people to do something as crazy as move to Nashville and stake it all on the dream of being a musician…while creating a distinctive and daring sound incorporating traditional bluegrass and U2-style anthemic rock.” – Esquire
“Few artists in mainstream country music have their finger on the pulse quite like Dierks Bentley.” – Rolling Stone
“Dierks is the gold standard for roots-infused sounds in the mainstream. It’s full of heart and commitment to his craft as a musician and a songwriter.” – Country Central
“Mixing modern sonic muscle with the rootsy refinement of an artist who’s seen it all… in different ways, each song sinks its teeth into the messy truth of day-to-day life, but takes a step back to see the beauty of the forest, not just a tangled bunch of trees. While country songwriters are often guilty of going with the flow, Dierks Bentley has a habit of cutting against the grain.” – American Songwriter
“A project that speaks to the country music community and the trusty outliers, like the artist himself, who exist to shake things up from within. Sure to leave listeners fully satiated rather than simply buzzed.” – Holler
“It’s a rocking good time, even when life’s roads are bumpy, as evidenced across the release—from the jukebox stomp of the title track to the rowdy ‘She Hates Me.’” – Associated Press
“Dierks Bentley Is in the ‘Sweet Spot’ of His Career.” – People Magazine
“Dierks Bentley is embracing brokenness, imperfection In the best way.” – iHeart
“This is a classic Dierks Bentley album—full of meaning, humour, humanity and heart. Built on reflection and resilience. Whether he’s urging you to laugh, cry, or raise a glass, Bentley reminds us that even the most broken branches can still hold up the tree. 4.5 out of 5 stars.” – Entertainment Focus
“A deeply personal, character-rich album that feels like a musical scrapbook… a concise yet impactful listening experience, with standout collaborations that span generations featuring Riley Green, Miranda Lambert, John Anderson, and Stephen Wilson Jr… the album will be one of the top releases this summer.” – Country Chord
“Overall, Broken Branches is phenomenal from top to bottom. Each song leads perfectly to the next and is unmistakably Dierks Bentley. 5 out of 5 stars.” – Cryptic Rock
BROKEN BRANCHES Track List:
1. Cold Beer Can (featuring Stephen Wilson Jr) – Written by Jon Randall, Luke Dick, Stephen Wilson Jr. and Dierks Bentley
2. Jesus Loves Me – Written by Adam James, Ben Stennis and Allison Veltz Cruz
3. She Hates Me – Written by Ashley Gorley, Chase McGill, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Allen, Wesley Scantlin and Dierks Bentley
4. Something Worth Fixing – Written by Stephen Wilson Jr., Luke Dick and Dierks Bentley
5. Standing In The Sun – Written by Kyle Sturrock
6. Well Well Whiskey – Written by Seth Ennis, Devin Dawson and Jordan Reynolds
7. Broken Branches (featuring John Anderson and Riley Green) – Written by Zach Abend, Beau Bailey and Graham Barham
8. Off The Map – Written by Jeremy Bussey, Lauren McLamb and Adam Wood
9. Near You (featuring Miranda Lambert) – Written by Scooter Carusoe, Ross Copperman and Ben Williams
10. For As Long As I Can Remember – Written by Devin Dawson, Connie Harrington
11. Don’t Cry For Me – Written by Jim Beavers and Dierks Bentley
With equal parts commotion and comedy, Bentley invites fans to a “Broken Branches” family reunion at a dive bar in East Nashville. Directed by Wes Edwards, the video features an all-star cast including Anderson and Green as well as Joey Breaux, Dane Lindfors, Cornbread Cowboi, Trailer Trash Tammy, Andi Tillman; cameos from CMT’s “Still The King” stars Travis Nicholson and Jon Sewell; and Allie Eklund, who starred in Bentley’s video for lead single “She Hates Me.” Fans can join the party by watching it HERE
today.
Dubbed “one of the most fun lineups you’ll see this summer” (Whiskey Riff), Bentley’s 30-city BROKEN BRANCHES TOUR recently launched with support from Zach Top and The Band Loula. Continuing this weekend in Chicago and at The Country Fest, fans can catch the tour’s “high-energy charm and heartfelt hits” (Loudhailer Magazine) through August with stops at amphitheaters and iconic venues across the country, including New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Bentley also recently announced the Broken Branches Fund, a multi-year initiative in partnership with Music Health Alliance to provide mental health support for the music industry’s creative and touring professionals; since launching, the program has sparked donations from across the industry. To learn more and make your own donation, click here.
After more than 20 years on country music’s family tree, Bentley’s current Top 30 “She Hates Me” is quickly climbing the charts following eight Number One albums, 22 Number One songs and over 9.5 billion global streams—plus 15 Grammy nominations and membership in the historic Grand Ole Opry. Continuing the path built from the ground up, as an entrepreneur, Bentley has four locations of the gastropub and live music venue “Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row,” has a Flag & Anthem lifestyle collection “Desert Son” and recently released ROW 94, a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey crafted with only “three ingredients and the truth” at Kentucky’s Green River Distilling Co. For more information, visit Dierks.com.
AUDIO CUT X CUT:
Cold Beer Can is a song I wrote with Stephen Wilson Jr. and a couple other guys and it’s just about the power that a cold beer can has. Can help you strike up a conversation with a girl. It can help you get your alternator changed, and it can hopefully help you mend some fences and some broken relationships. And the title kind of makes it sound like it’s not that serious of a song but I feel like the subject, when you get into the song and the subject matter, it’s kind of a deeper song than the title would make you think.
“Jesus Loves Me. When I first heard this song, I just fell in love with it. Just great songwriting. I can say that because I did not write it, but I just love the songwriting and taking an old kind of song everyone knows about Jesus and turning it into kind of a sad old honky tonk country song, lyric-wise. It just really made me fall in love with this song and excited to get out there and play it on the road.“
“She Hates Me is a song that I wrote with some guys back in Nashville, and it just fell out so quickly. First it kind of started off as just being something funny we were messing around with, but about a half hour later we had a great song and it just got better as we went into the studio and recorded it and somehow found its way out there to be my first single. So excited to play it on the road this summer and see people’s reaction to it, but it’s always fun to have one of those songs on a record and certainly in your live show that makes people laugh and smile, and I’m looking forward to playing it out there.”
“Something Worth Fixing, may be one of my favorite songs on the record I wrote this song with Stephen Wilson Jr., and Luke Dick and some other folks in Nashville, and it was just a cool idea that that Stephen Wilson Jr. Brought to the table, you know about comparing kind of working on your car working on your an engine working on something with a wrench and comparing that to a relationship with your significant other and how it’s there’s it’s you find yourself always working on something and that, you know, you’re one of those people that just isn’t going to let something remain broken. You’re always going to try to fix it.”
“Standing In The Sun is just, I think, the coolest love song. The way the songwriter of this song wrote this thing, Kyle Sturrock, he just had a great way of comparing, using nature to describe the way that this girl makes him feel. And I’m a sucker for songs that involve nature and being outdoors and certainly tying that back into a love song. Just so cool. Shot a great video for this out on the farm, one-shot video, as the Sun was rising and hopefully that video did the song justice, but I’m a big fan of Standing In The Sun.”
“Well, Well, Whiskey. I love this song. Makes me think of my whiskey, Row 94, like a good whiskey and like a song that has a lot of resonator guitar and flatpicking on the acoustic and fiddle and was able to of pack all those things into one song on this one. Great track, lot of energy, fun song lyrically that anyone can relate to that’s ever took a trip up and down, up and down lower Broadway into some of the honky tonks drinking that well whiskey and just trying to avoid it, just finding that it always has a way of finding you.“
“Broken Branches is a song my buddy Graham Barham wrote, a great singer, songwriter, and entertainer now here in Nashville. It’s just, I love this song so much that it became the title track of the album and really the theme of the overall album, the idea of Broken Branches. We’re all broken branches off a family tree in some way. We’re all doing our own thing. We all got our, we’re all a little bit of a misfit, just trying to find our way in this world. And song just got better when the original Broken Branch, the black sheep of the family, John Anderson, agreed to be part of it. And then my buddy Riley Green, so you kind of have three generations of Broken Branches, and it turned out pretty great.”
“Off The Map, I heard for the first time driving out in the country; my manager sent me this song. It was just a guitar and a vocal, and it just hit me so hard. Everything it says is everything I believe, everything I feel. Getting off the grid, getting away from it all. And I love the twist of the song in that it’s not just about going out in the woods, going out in the country. You can be on your couch at home. You can be on a beach chair. You can be on a bar stool. Anywhere you need to go to take a break and get off the grid is so important.”
“Never You has my great friend Miranda Lambert on it. This is Miranda’s and my first true collaboration together. Kind of a great love song, and I love Miranda Lambert. Known her for a long time and feel lucky to have the friendship we have and just was long overdue for us to sing one together, and I feel like I finally found the right song, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the fans think of that one.”
“For As Long As I Can Remember is, I mean, such a different song. When I’m looking for outside songs that I didn’t write, I’m trying to find those broken branches. Trying to find those songs that aren’t mainstream, popular songs that everyone’s going for. I’m trying to find the ones, you know, kind of get to dig around and pull out of the ground and kind of give a shot, shed some light on. And this song is just so different and so unique and really resonates with me hard as, you know, my father, my brother, and people I’m trying to be like and emulate, and just a very personal song that I hope really connects with some fans out there.”
“Don’t Cry For Me is probably my most personal song on the record. Talks a lot about, you know, sunsets in Arizona and being a member of the Grand Ole Opry and having kids and how it’s been a really great life. And I don’t want anyone crying for me when my time comes. Just raise up a cold one and share a few laughs. And I just wrote this one with my longtime friend and someone I write a lot of songs with, Jim Beavers. And he knows me real well. mean, a great time writing this track. And I think it’s a great song to close the album out with.”
