Country star Dierks Bentley lit up Austin’s Moody Center with high-energy charm and heartfelt hits on his Broken Branches North American Tour stop.

Dierks Bentley is an American country music singer and songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona. Since the early 2000s, Bentley has been releasing music. Both of his first studio albums released are certified Platinum in the U.S. and 27 of his singles have been on Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts; 18 of which have reached #1. Bentley’s last album was released in 2023, Gravel & Gold. He is set to release a new album, Broken Branches,  on June 13. The album will feature country artists such as Miranda Lambert and John Anderson. 

The first of two artists opening for Dierks Bentley was The Band Loula. The Band Loula is a duo from Georgia. Their style is described as “swampgrass,” combining bluegrass and modern country. The duo is made up of Malachi Mills and Logan Simmons, who have been lifelong friends. The two have toured with major stars, including Brothers Osborne, Ashley McBryde, and Elle King. In May, they released their latest single, “Can’t Please ‘Em All.” During their set, they performed haunting songs such as “Running Off The Angels” and an unreleased song speculated to be titled “Karma Is The Devil.”

After The Band Loula, growing country musician Zach Top took to the stage. Zach Top has flown up the charts with hits such as “I Never Lie” and “Sounds Like the Radio.” Originally from Washington, Top moved to Nashville to begin building a career in music, especially being interested in country and bluegrass genres. His first self-titled debut EP, released in 2022, contained more bluegrass-style tracks compared to his latest album. In April 2024, he released his album Cold Beer & Country Music.

He opened his set with “Sounds Like the Radio” and “The Kinda Woman I Like.” Early in the show, while Top was introducing himself, he told the crowd that he would play a few songs he wrote and a few he didn’t. Mid-set, Top and his band performed an amazing cover of George Strait’s “Amarillo by Morning.” He closed his set with the title track from Cold Beer & Country Music.

At around 9 PM, Dierks Bentley and his band came onto the stage to open up the first show on The Broken Branches Tour. He opened his set with “Gold,” a 2022 single, also featured on his album Gravel & Gold (2023). During the opening, Bentley and his band walked to the edge of the short catwalk in the center of the stage to perform together. It was obvious the group was close-knit from the way they interacted and hyped each other up on stage. Afterward, they performed other hits such as “I Hold On” from Riser (2014) and “Burning Man” from The Mountain (2018) that originally featured Brothers Osborne.

As the set came to a close, he played a fan favorite, one of his first chart-topping songs, “What Was I Thinkin’” from his 2003 debut self-titled album. For his encore, he performed “Drunk on a Plane” and a few other songs to bring his set to an end. Dierks Bentley’s The Broken Branches Tour will continue through the end of August. 

DIERKS BENTLEY
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ZACH TOP
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THE BAND LOULA
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MOODY CENTER
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