Dierks Bentley just announced his next tour, The Broken Branches Tour, and stopped by Taste of Country Nights to chat about it before he hits the road.

We had to ask, what does Dierks Bentley require backstage at his concerts? Typically artists have “tour riders,” which outline whatever food and beverages, etc., they’d like to have when they get offstage.

Above all else, Bentley’s first item on the list is a bit unusual.

“Fans. That’s about all I really care about is having people there to sing for,” he says.

Surely he means fans in front of the stage, not behind it.

He actually does like to have some treats in the greenroom, also. “Row 94 whiskey, ice. We’re pretty low-key,” Bentley insists.

“I actually just talked to my tour manager yesterday and I said, ‘Make sure we go through the rider that we are sending out.'”

As the star explains, “that thing starts building up with a bunch of crap, and I always feel bad showing up somewhere and there’s just too much stuff.”

“I like keeping it super-streamlined and just being low-maintenance for all the nice folks that help put that together all these places that we play at across the road,” the ever-humble hitmaker says.

“I wish it was more elaborate, but we keep it pretty simple.”

Bentley’s Broken Branches Tour kicks off in May in Texas. Zach Top will open several shows along the way.