After more than 20 years on country’s family tree, Dierks Bentley’s branch has grown strong and solid – despite never being perfect. But with his 11th studio album Broken Branches (MCA), he comes to appreciate the knots and gnarl.

Whittling down his essential sound to its rooted and most resolute, ready to twist with wind or rise toward the shining light of age-old inspiration, it finds a proud broken branch celebrating the outliers of country life – and of country music. Eleven 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,” the perennial hit maker 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.”

To Bentley’s credit, it has worked so far. The multi-Platinum superstar counts eight Number One albums, 22 Number One songs, and nine and a half billion global streams – plus 15 Grammy nominations and membership in the historic Grand Ole Opry. A global headliner and against-the-grain torch bearer for country’s organic roots, Broken Branches finds him continuing the path, doing things like only he can. He builds from the ground up, ensuring only that each song feeds his heart (or sense of humor … or sonic appetite). And in the end, it’s another set that looks a little “different.”

“This record grabbed all that and it’s interesting for me to listen to, which is important,” he says. “If I didn’t feel like I was going somewhere new, then what’s the point?”

Over 11 songs, the new destination proved a daring drive to break with convention – even his own. Co-writing just four tracks and securing seven from outside writers (many for the first time), it’s the fewest number of songs Bentley has written for an album since 2010’s Up On The Ridge, but not from a lack of motivation. More like a wish to explore Nashville’s thriving new growth.

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.

“The younger folks and new people really drive Nashville forward,” he explains. “A lot of us have wisdom, but these younger kids have the desire and the dream – that youthful energy that is so important in moving the music in a new way.”

“Broken Branches” became the anchor. Written by Zach Abend, Beau Bailey and Graham Barham, the grounded (but good-timing) anthem is a mood-boosting jukebox stomp in honor of nature’s black sheep – and to the circle of life that keeps spitting them out, adding color wherever they land. Representing multiple generations of broken branches, Bentley recorded it with living legend John Anderson and rising hit maker Riley Green.

“I just fell in love with the lyrics of that song. It says it in a fun way, but it’s also a pretty deep message – we are the broken branches off the family tree,” he says. “The song found me and I started collecting more around that idea of broken branches, just community and family.”

Others like “Cold Beer Can” take a new swing at an old theme, highlighting one of Bentley’s favorite new trailblazers. Co-written with co-star Stephen Wilson Jr., plus Jon Randall and Luke Dick, a dusky acoustic groove helps show a different way of looking at a frosty 12-oz. – like an emotional currency, capable of doing what money can’t. “What I love about this song is that the title and idea seem like such familiar territory for country music, but when you actually dig into the lyrics of the song, it’s much more meaningful,” Bentley says.

Elsewhere, heartwarming tracks like the banjo-led “Never You (feat. Miranda Lambert)” tribute the essential companion in each life, and Bentley made sure to record the set with a collaborative free spirit to match. Following each song wherever it wanted to go, that sometimes meant returning to his bluegrass beginnings – check out tracks like the feverish “Well, Well Whiskey.” Or sometimes it led to the unhinged Whitley-meets-Weezer fun of tunes like “She Hates Me.”

They all 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 – real creative magic in the age of AI.

“I think that’s what’s special about country – we’re still making music in the studio,” Bentley says. “We’re still getting together and talking about the songs and letting these players have a big say.”

Tracks like the propulsive acoustic jam “Something Worth Fixing” celebrate life as a work in progress, while 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. The theme speaks to what Bentley’s shows mean to him and millions of fans, a service he continues to provide on the Broken Branches Tour.

Meanwhile, the blazing heart of “Standing in the Sun” (by Kyle Sturrock) burns with the simple, life-giving power of true romance – a song Bentley says “I never in a million years could have written on my own, but luckily someone in this town did.” And while “For as Long as I Can Remember” tributes the Sequoia-like shelter a father provides. “Don’t Cry for Me” brings the project full circle.

Written by Bentley with Jim Beavers, who’s been with the star since the first seasons of his career, the pulse-pounding blast of roots-pop features a hard acoustic-guitar chop and rolling banjos, as his weathered vocal explores decades of personal detail. Like a hammer-down high-energy eulogy, it shows a broken branch proud of what he’s become – a strong, vital piece of country’s present, tied firmly to its story and soul. A survivor of storms who’s soaked in his share of sun, still growing toward a new dawn.