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Dierks Bentley is releasing his 11th studio album “Broken Branches” on June 13
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The country artist tells PEOPLE that the title reflects the diverse group of singers and songwriters who have come to Nashville to “chase this crazy country music dream”
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“So the musicianship of this record really draws from all the different types of players that are here in town, from country to bluegrass”
Dierks Bentley may be an acclaimed country artist today, but he still remembers the early days when he played for tips in Nashville bars, hoping to get noticed.
“It’s fun to look back on my time here, performing down on lower Broadway,” he tells PEOPLE. “And thinking about all the characters I knew down there who came from different places to do this thing.”
It’s those early memories, combined with “a lot of my personal story,” that served as the inspiration for Broken Branches, Bentley’s 11th studio album set for release on June 13.
“Everyone in Nashville is kind of a broken branch off the family tree,” the 49-year-old singer-songwriter says, explaining the album’s title. “Everyone has moved from somewhere to be here and chase this crazy country music dream. You’re trying to carve out your little path, while playing music at honky-tonks. So the musicianship of this record really draws from all the different types of players that are here in town, from country to bluegrass.”
Driven by his deep love of musicianship, Bentley listened to nearly 4,000 songs before selecting seven for the album, in addition to four he co-wrote.
“I’m always looking for the ones that are kind of the broken branches of music,” he says, referring to songs like “Standing in the Sun,” for which he released the music video on Thursday. “Not the real popular ones, the songs that’re the forgotten misfits that say something kind of quirky and weird, and then seeing what we can do with them. I love finding great music.”
Of course, no great album comes without collaborations with other well-beloved artists. “John Anderson is just one of the true characters in country music; he still drives himself in an RV from gig to gig and is the real old-school broken branch,” Bentley says about their collaboration for the title track. “Then I wanted to get someone from the young generation, and Riley Green is someone who is just doing things his own way. We all speak the same core language of a love of country music and country lifestyle, three generations of broken branches with me being right there in the middle.”
Bentley also teamed up with longtime friend Miranda Lambert. “She’s been a friend forever, we’ve done shows together for over 20 years,” he says. “One of my favorite people in general, let alone singers, she’s just a true trailblazer in every sense of the word.”
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Even after 10 previous albums, Bentley admits that each project presents new challenges. “When you first start off, you have 10, 20 years’ worth of material to pump into that first album,” he tells PEOPLE. “The second one is usually about life on the road, and then you get to the place where every record just feels a little more challenging. But in that way, it’s also a little more rewarding when they come out.”
Related: Dierks Bentley Celebrates 18th Anniversary with Wife Cassidy: ‘Love This Girl’
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Dierks Bentley
With a new album dropping in June, a tour launching in late May, his 50th birthday coming in November, and his 20th anniversary with his wife Cassidy in December, Bentley says he’s exactly where he wants to be.
“I love every decade of my life, and there’s a lot of wisdom that comes with getting older,” he reflects. “I just feel so happy. Seeing the younger guys getting to live out their dreams, but also having my mentors steer the path as I go forward. I feel really lucky to be in what I consider the sweet spot of my career and my life.”
What’s next? More music, of course. “It’s all about love, right?” Bentley says with a smile. “Finding it, losing it, wanting it, having it. That — or whiskey and trucks.”
Read the original article on People
