Dierks Bentley with Michelle Branch

The Phoenix-born singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley is one of the leaders of a rising wave of country stars—Miranda Lambert, Billy Currington, Sugarland—who balance the old-fashioned cowboy-hat twang of New Traditionalists like George Strait and Clint Black with the kind of arena-pop crossover Nashville hasn’t seen since the Dixie Chicks. Part John Mellencamp and part Merle Haggard, Bentley’s been inching toward the mainstream since his 2003 self-titled debut album; he fully arrived there with this year’s Feel That Fire, featuring the goofy chart-topping anthems “Sideways” and “Feel That Fire.” (Matthew Everett)