It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that I actually heard of Zach Bryan. I remember my cousin playing the Heading South YouTube video while we were camping. I liked what I heard, wrote down his name and finished off the camping trip telling the kids the greatest story of Biggie and Tupac, being ceremoniously stalked by racoons, and lots and lots of swimming.
When I got back home I looked up Zach and discovered a treasure trove of songs put out by him and each and every one was fantastic. I could probably have a post for each of his songs, to me, they are that good. His lyrics speak to me and the lofi production of the tracks, that just adds to much to them all! Back in the day I would spend hours upon hours searching Napster, Kazaa, and Limewire for acoustic versions of songs and I downloaded some horrible quality tracks, but they were amazing, like where else would I had heard Garth Brooks playing Piano Man, or Jason Mraz busting out a verse from Bell Biv Devo’s Poison? So the quality of Zach’s sound was music to my ears.
With two albums under his belt a couple EPs, and a smorgasbord of unreleased songs, covers, and demos, there was so much to digest, and then not much after that he drops a massive 34 track album, American Heartbreak.
With American Heartbreak released and digging through everything YouTube and Soundcloud had to offer I found that I had just kept Zach on repeat pretty much all the time. I would sprinkle in some Tyler Childers or Morgan Wade to mix it up, but I had this man’s discography on rotation.
Zach’s guitar playing isn’t Hendrix level or anything spectacular to be honest (I’d like to love my lady long and hard, And lay down lines of laymеn guitar), it’s his lyrics. His words are relatable for me in my life. His stories are vivid and paint a picture in my mind that no other songwriter can do. Let’s not forget to mention that singing along to his songs is just as fantastic. His cadence, vocal tone, and rhythm just fit perfectly with one another.
In May 2022, my wife and I were able to attend the Country Music Fest in Chesterfield, MO. There were plenty of storms that day as well as a few tornado sirens, so I wasn’t sure if the show would be cancelled or not. The powers that be ultimately cancelled Charles Wesley Godwin’s set but Zach was able to perform and it was an incredible, muddy mess. I even got a Zach Lane Bryan t-shirt that I have already worn so much that it is fading faster than a 68 fastback getting scrapped for parts. It’s currently my favorite shirt, that is until I put on my All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster shirt.
Zach Bryan is a songwriter like no other. Dropping albums, EP’s, unreleased songs, and still doing everything he can to hate on Ticketmaster, I just can’t complain at all.
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