The album features collaborations with friends John Anderson, Riley Green, Miranda Lambert & Stephen Wilson Jr.
Dierks Bentley’s upcoming 11th studio album Broken Branches is due out June 13th via Capitol Records Nashville. Whittling down his essential sound to its rooted and most resolute, it finds a proud broken branch celebrating the outliers of country life – and of country music. The 11 songs embrace unruly characters wherever they’re found, ultimately adding beauty to the whole.
“The country music community has a lot of broken branches in it. That’s why we’re all here,” Bentley explains. “We want to do something a little bit different, and I think everyone sees themselves like that – certainly in country. This is the people’s music and it represents that spirit of individuality so well – it’s just about doing it our own way.”
Bentley spent months listening to songs, often driving around the backroads of his Tennessee home, spinning raw demos with no names attached to the songs. Then he chose a mix of tracks with deep meanings and distinctive quirks, centered on the imperfect perfections of community spirit. Executive Produced by Mary Hilliard Harrington, each song grew from acoustic-guitar foundation in whatever direction felt right, and Bentley calls that a testament to producers Jon Randall and Ross Copperman, plus musicians like Charlie Worsham, Jedd Hughes, Rob McNelley and Bryan Sutton. Co-writing just four tracks himself and securing seven from outside writers (many for the first time), Bentley dug deeper than ever before into Nashville’s thriving songwriting community.
“I think that’s what’s special about country – we’re still making music in the studio with our buddies,” Bentley says. “We’re still getting together and talking about the songs and letting the musicians have a big say. It’s a good team – maybe a little messed up – but that’s the whole idea behind broken branches, so it just works.”
“Broken Branches” became the anchor track as a grounded anthem with a mood-boosting jukebox stomp in honor of nature’s black sheep, featuring multiple generations, the living legend John Anderson and rising hit maker Riley Green. Others like “Cold Beer Can” shows a different way of looking at a frosty 12-oz. and the heartwarming banjo-led “Never You” featuring Miranda Lambert tribute the essential companion in each life. Bentley returns to his bluegrass beginnings with the feverish “Well, Well Whiskey,” tracks like the propulsive acoustic jam “Something Worth Fixing” celebrate life as a work in progress, the grungy alt-country of “Jesus Loves Me” explores a heartbroken “gospel truth” and “Off the Map” looks to quietly escape a relentless reality – whether on the beach, or a barstool. Meanwhile, the blazing heart of “Standing in the Sun” burns with the simple, life-giving power of true romance, while “For as Long as I Can Remember” tributes the Sequoia-like shelter a father provides and “Don’t Cry for Me” brings the project full-circle.
1. Cold Beer Can (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 (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)
