In 2019, a 23-year-old sailor named Zach Bryan released his first single, “Heading South”. The native Okie was in the Navy, and went viral on YouTube and Twitter in 2017 after videos of him singing were uploaded by his friends.
With the release of “Heading South”, shot with an iPhone and posted on Twitter, Bryan gained traction quickly and became one of the hottest new country singers. Mixing both contemporary and traditional styles of country music, his unique singing voice has been noticed all across the nation. With the release of four albums and countless singles over the course of four years, Bryan has caught the attention of music fans all over, whether they were country fans or not.
His discography started out with “DeAnn”, an album dedicated to his late mother who passed away in 2016. Bryan showed his storytelling abilities with this first album, recording it with only a guitar and his voice. Unlike many other artists, Bryan released DeAnn with no publicist, management or label; the album spread simply through streaming services and word of mouth.
While his next three albums have been based on separate experiences and parts of his life, Bryan has been able to convey the same emotional longing and sorrow in the majority of his songs.
On Aug. 25, Bryan released his self-titled fourth album, which rapidly rose through the country ranks. “Zach Bryan” hit the top of the Billboard 200 charts quickly after becoming available to the public.
The recent self-titled album starts off with a poem called Fears and Fridays. In the monologue, Bryan shares his life experience with listeners, telling them that “every waking moment is enough, and excess never leads to better things.”
Bryan has worked mostly by himself for his career, not usually collaborating with many other artists on songs. However, he had features with four artists in “Zach Bryan”; The Lumineers, Sierra Ferrell, Kacey Musgraves and The War and Treaty.
A fan favorite has been “Hey Driver”, which features The War and Treaty. The song discusses going down another path of life, and how difficult it is to leave an old lifestyle. Another popular track is “I Remember Everything”, which includes Kacey Musgraves in the song. This leads the listener through the reminiscing of a past relationship and the stages of missing someone from your life.
Much to the excitement of his fans, Bryan continues to release music. On Sept. 22, Bryan released an EP, which included five songs in the mix. He continues to collaborate with folk artists such as Noah Kahan and Bon Iver, expanding his reign on different genres constantly. Fans are looking forward to what Bryan releases next, as are we at TLR.
