Latest / Inside Country with Wayne D / Meet Your New Favorite Artist, Zach Top

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Meet Your New Favorite Artist, Zach Top · Inside Country with Wayne D

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  Anytime we meet a new artist, it's usually like, hey, nice to
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  meet you. Tell us about your song, tell us about your music.
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  This is the first time in I've done this a long time. I'm not
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  going to say how long, but I've been doing this a long time where
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  I already knew this artist's name before he walked in the door. And I've
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  already heard hype on this artist from some pretty big sources before this person ever
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  sat down. Zaktop, How you doing man? Just wonderful. Thank you.
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  I appreciate the kind of words. It's really nice of you. I
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  had to be here. Thank you for letting me come. Oh, We're
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  glad to have you here. Kidding me, first of all, I'm I'm
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  rarely beat by facial hair in this studio, although I will say there was
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  a point where Tay tried and it just didn't wear it. Well. Uh,
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  has the mustache always been part of the gig for you, because,
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  let me tell you, a beard is one thing. Yeah, and we
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  all have to get clever editing. It takes balls to rock a mustache.
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  Yeah, oh yeah, well yeah, And I don't know if I'm rocking
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  it yet or not. But I've been working on it for years now,
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  and I think one of these days it's really gonna look like something. I
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  mean, it's ever since, ever since I started growing a little hair on
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  my face, I've been trying, and I would go for a while.
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  I think it finally took hold, like probably for the last year and a
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  half, I think, because I was I'd go through phases and you're just
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  scraggling and gross, and I just shave it back off and it's like I
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  ain't working. But finally, in the last year and a half, I
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  think it's finally gotten to an acceptable level where it's like, all right,
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  I can. I love the idea of a mustache on my face. I
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  think I think that in theory it works really nice, and it's a nice
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  compliment. I really don't think I'm executing it all that well yet, but
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  I haven't touched it up in all the photos they make. You know,
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  people are usually surprised when they meet me in personally. Get up closer.
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  Dang, that's patchy and thin, tales wrong. It looks good. You
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  looked awesome when I saw you in the picture, So like, what happened?
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  What happened to the rest of it? The best part is you're like
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  music careers blowing up. And I'm like, we'll get it's cute that you
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  like singing stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah, this, I mean it's
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  it's just statement for sure. We more of a statement than the music.
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  We are lucky enough to interact with artists of every genre, are every level
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  rather of the genre. Recently we've caught up with artists like Luke Combs,
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  Kenny Chesney, Laney Wilson and others. And I got to say something we
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  love asking them is they're established, They're to the point where they can influence
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  people's listening. So we like to ask, who are you listening to that
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  we've never heard of? What names are floating around your inboxes? Writers or
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  newer artists? And I'm telling you, we heard from Laney Wilson, we
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  heard from Luke Combs, and then we turn around and we heard from Ashley
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  McBride, all within like two week span, and your name came up as
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  as artists that they're they're they're excited to see what's next, and artists are
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  already a fan of what does that mean to you? That might be someone's
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  first that was honestly your Your name first came up. The first time I
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  ever heard it was out of Luke Comb's mouth, which is a it's a
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  hell of an endorsement. Yeah, I'm telling you, So what does that
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  mean to you? And how do you think you got on radars like that?
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  Man? It means the world, I think. On the one hand,
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  it's a small thing to like mention somebody's name, but the kind of
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  platform that those people have and the like you said, the influence in this
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  way they have, just mentioning somebody's name can be like a huge swing where
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  I'm at in my career. Just them dropping my name is then all their
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  fans are, you know, if they're the least little bit curious, they're
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  going to go check it out and they can listen to music and hopefully fall
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  in love with it and all that. But it's I think it's really really
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  kind, and it's it's certainly not something they have to do. And there's
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  obviously a whole pile of other great talented artists you know that's coming up starting
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  out right now too, So it makes me feel special for sure that so
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  many of them, you know, top dogs in country music right now are
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  dropping my name and have been enjoying what we've been putting out, and I
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  think we got a lot more good stuff to come that hopefully they'll they won't
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  all out of love with me, but yeah, it's it's really cool to
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  me, and uh means a lot. And yeah, how do you knowing
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  that? Obviously they are they have climbed further up the mountain, right,
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  but you've already taken your first steps, so the climb has begun. Uh
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  what does it mean to you that they know it's important to look backwards?
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  Right? And I don't mean that, but I like to look who's coming
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  and make sure that the path is clear for them. Yeah, I think
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  it, you know, I think, uh, this business is not an
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  easy one to uh, to make it in nobody ever knows about you until
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  you've made it, I feel like, and once you have made it,
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  the parts that they see look really glamorous and really fun and like a lot
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  of it's pretty rough, and I complain, and I wouldn't rather be doing
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  anything else. And even if you know it wasn't working, I'd probably still
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  be trying to do it. But I think that they got where they gotten
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  because of the work they put in. And it's not that long ago.
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  I think they probably remember very well what it was like at my stage of
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  the career, where it's like we're scrapping and clawing for everything we can get
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  right now, and whatever little exposure helps, and so I think, you
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  know, it's just them being genuine people. That's like, Yeah, I
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  remember the work it took to get here. And if there's somebody that's like,
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  I believe in that talent or that you know, what they've got going,
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  I'll throw them a little bone and see if I can't, you know,
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  jump them up a couple of rungs of the ladder, you know,
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  because I remember when I was there. Was there ever a moment when you
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  heard artists like that mentioning your name and interviews or maybe even on stage giving
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  a shout out whatever it was, Was ever a moment where you had to
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  check yourself likes because obviously you're a country music fan. Yeah, everybody starts
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  chasing a passion because they're a fan. So was ever a moment where you
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  had to like, hey, be cool, we do the same thing.
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  I make music. Yeah, yeah, I'll tell you what. I have
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  yet to be out on tour with Lanny Wilson. She's my two favorite gals
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  in the business as far as singers and artists, is Landy Wilson and Ashley
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  McBride. So I feel really lucky. I've already got to tour with Ashley
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  McBride soon and feel very fortunate that she was a fan of mine too and
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  let us come out there and do our thing with her. That one was
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  a that was probably the most of a like, hey be cool, will
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  you settle down? You know sort of a thing. I did get to
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  meet George Strait this summer too, and that I can't remember much of it.
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  I think I peed my pants and I might have fallen over. But
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  uh, that was I didn't get to really play with George, but uh,
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  but that one he was the one I got into music for. And
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  he ain't said my name. He don't know who I am either, as
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  far as people who have said my name. He's like, nice to meet
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  you fans, exactly, exactly, Okay, buddy, take it easy on
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  the George Straight lookalike act. Anyways, No that yeah, I mean I
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  was not cool meeting George Straight, and I was not cool meeting Dean Dylon
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  either. Uh, but I did so I guess I can tell my grandkids
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  someday. But Ashley McBride was a really cool one where it's like, man,
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  I can't believe I'd been a fan of her for a long time.
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  And that's just like, dang, you know who I am. And yeah,
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  like you said, be cool, we do the same thing. Hey,
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  right, you just do it for ten thousand and I do it for
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  twenty two. Let's have an awkward moment together. Come on, I met
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  George Straight once, unreal moment right as a country music fan, doesn't he
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  have like awkwardly soft hands? Like I didn't expect that. I ain't saying
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  nothing. I'm on microphone right now. I thought George Strait was beautiful and
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  he had strong manly hands. He hurt my hand when I shook his hand.
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  It was fun, but it was like a sad pillowcase, is all
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  I'm saying. No disrespect. Felt like he just rubbed him all over sandpaper,
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  done some hard works or something. They made my hands feel lesser.
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  I felt like he just built a house by himself, exactly, build a
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  fence or hal a plow or something. Well, let me tell you about
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  all the hard work I know. George Straight hauled to plowuns pretty stupid.
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  I promise. I grew up on a farm. I know something about something.
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  I just we get talking about George Straight, and I get all flustered.
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  I don't know what to say. Well, you you talk about influences
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  like that, and I want to say I do. I can tell without
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  even listening to a song, I can tell that maybe your influence a little
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  by Alan Jackson George Straight. H Oh, you almost look like if they
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  had a love child. I was gonna say that, but I didn't know
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  if I wanted to go there. But yeah, that's fine. Take that.
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  Well, how do you take take inspiration from legends but not sound like
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  you're trying to copy them? Yeah, because that's kind of a costing question.
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  Yeah, for sure, for sure. And I think that's like,
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  yeah, that's something I've definitely always been kind of conscious of to try to
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  cause I am. I love like George Strait was the first reason that I
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  wanted to I thought he looked cool and the cowboy hat and holding a guitar,
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  and so I wanted to sing amy Ella by morning. That was the
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  first My guitar teacher, when I took my first lesson at five, asked
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  me what I wanted to learn first. The first lesson I took and I
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  said, amor elo by morning, and she said, that's a nice thought.
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  Maybe we can start with Jesus Loves Me and we'll work our way up
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  there. So that was fine. It took me a little longer than I
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  thought it would, but uh, that was I just think he had He
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  was not you know, he ain't gonna win no singing contest, but the
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  best songs, I think, just song after song after song, hit after
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  hit, all the records. There's nothing bad out there. And that's the
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  big thing I took away from straight when I started getting more serious about my
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  singing. Keith Whitley was my favorite singer. And then you know, George
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  Jones, Merle Haggard are right there too, just trying to be able to
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  sing like all them guys. But then, yeah, all the different stuff.
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  Alan Jackson's goofy, kind of outlandish style a little bit. You know,
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  George Strait was always the put together, just clean cut cowboy. You
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  know, he'd show up at a sale b and in the same outfit he
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  walked out on stage on. So I thought Alan Jackson was funny. It's
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  just like man, it looks like somebody gave a hillbilly some money and this
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  is what they think they need to spend it on. And and I love
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  him for that. It's like that was his own thing. And I guess
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  I'm wandering around here, but to your point where it's like everybody's got to
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  have their own thing. And I don't know exactly what. I wouldn't be
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  able to tell you this is my thing. I don't know what it is,
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  but I think it's a few different things, Like from growing up in
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  the bluegrass world. That's the first music I started playing. I had little
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  family band, my little brother, my two older sisters who ran around doing
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  that. I think coming at it from the bluegrass angle is a different thing
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  that you're not hearing any of like right now or for the last you know,
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  decade or something. So I think that gets me looking out of a
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  little different window that puts a unique spin on it. And I don't know,
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  it's it's a weird. It's hard to define. I know that it
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  like I've got to where I've got my own sound. Now it's not a
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  you know, I'm it's yeah, it's a funny. I don't know how
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  to say it. Or do you like I could define it? Do you
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  find your laying and take it? I think so, yeah, yeah,
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  And I think that's what like hope not just sound arrogant or something, but
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  like I think that's what a real artist will do, is you don't like
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  go out with a goal of like this is gonna be my thing and so
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  I'm going to do that. It's kind of just like this is who I
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  am. This is the only kind of music I know how to make and
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  that I'll ever make and that I want to make. And so I just
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  thank god people happen to like it, because otherwise I'd just be doing it
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  for nobody. So it's working. Yeah, we gotta, we got to
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  get you out there. But I want to say congrats on on your label
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  deals. We're friends with your crew. Got a good crew are Yeah,
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  you got a good crew behind Raggedy to me, but and let me tell
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  it anyway, it only costs twenty bucks for me to say that for them
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  that was ill. Yeah. Yeah, so no, but I do I
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  do want to ask before we gets you out there. There's music out there.
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  You're starting to see early support from from country radio already without a full
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  song, right role. Yeah, your first offering comes after the first of
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  the year. It's called Sounds like the Radio. Yes, out of everything
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  you've created so far, why are you most confident with this being like your
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  first handshake? Because yes, people know you, but this is gonna this
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  is gonna put you from some people know you to a lot of people know
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  Yeah. Absolutely, I think it's just uh, it's it's funny. When
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  we wrote the song, it was not intended to be like a let's write
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  a song about my childhood or something, but the way it turned out,
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  it feels a lot like it was just like, man, that's how I
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  grew up. I grew up when George Strait was still having hits on the
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  radio and Alan Jackson was And it's funny like as I got into my teenage
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  years and everything, like I never got past that, Like those were the
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  hits I remember on the radio when it started, when country music, you
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  know, took its turn for And I ain't talking bad about that. Everybody's
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  got their own thing and I love it all. There's room for all of
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  it. But that was where I kind of quit listening to the radio,
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  was when like, if I ain't hearing George Strait or Alan Jackson or Tracy
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  Lawrence, you know, whoever. It was these old classic country, you
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  know type of guys fight hearing that on the radio, well, I'm gonna
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  go find another place to listen to that because that's what I love. And
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  so that, you know, the chorus goes sounds like the radio back in
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  ninety four. You know, that's before I was born. I was born
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  in ninety seven, so it's a little bit of a lie, but it
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  felt like that was like, that was the stuff that I wanted to hear
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  on the radio, and I listened to the radio every day if that was
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  you know what I got, And when that stopped being the thing, it's
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  like, well, I guess I won't find another place to listen to it.
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  So it feels to me like it's kind of like, ah, maybe
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  I can be part of, you know, putting that thing back on the
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  radio that hopefully there's some other young kid out there just like I wish i'd
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  hear that on the radio. I guess I just got to go to my
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  Spotify now, and you know, it's like, we'll put that kind of
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  country, the stuff that made me fall in love with the genre and fall
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  in love with music. Put that back on the radio, and that's kind
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  of a little bit what the song is about. My whole life sounds like
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  the radio listen. I already liked the music. I obviously was invested because
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  artists were talking about you. I'm a fan. After meeting your man,
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  I'm really excited to see what happens for you. Thank you so much,
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  Zachtop, Thank you brother,