Country singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson had high praise for rising star Zach Top while speaking with the music publication Saving Country Music.
“People weren’t really thinking about ‘90s country, and now Zach Top’s come along and everyone’s so dead focused on trying to find all the greatest songs from this era and that. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing. That’s the tradition of country music. That’s how you pass it down,” Johnson said.
Though Top released his debut album “Cold Beer & Country Music” just over a year ago, the Academy of Country Music award winner has quickly gone from country newcomer to a formidable country voice with staying power.
The Importance of Authenticity
Top’s music contains a healthy dose of authenticity. Artistic predecessors taught him the importance of staying true to oneself, especially when it comes to music.
Some of his influences include classic contemporary artists like Alan Jackson and George Strait. But he doesn’t shy away from any era of country music when it comes to sparking new ideas.
Bluegrass Beginnings
Though Top’s now billed as a country artist thanks to his breakout single, “I Never Lie,” his earliest days learning how to play music centered around bluegrass. When Top was 5 years old, he took his first guitar lesson from teacher Marie Parks. She introduced him to the bluegrass scene in his home state of Washington, and it created a lifelong love for the genre—so much so that his first band was a bluegrass group called Top String that he formed with his siblings.“We really fell in love with bluegrass. I’ve got a younger brother and two older sisters, and we had a little family band for 10 years growing up. I loved that style of music. … And I think it was really beneficial because the bluegrass scene is family-friendly, more so than other genres would be. It gave me an early head start on learning how to entertain people and then being comfortable onstage behind a microphone and all that. That was a way for me to get the chops up to where I could eventually make it in country music.”
Bad luck was always hanging around A good roll was always letting me down I had every reason in the world to give up But you came along and now it’s gone So long, bad luck
‘Dirt Turns to Gold’
Top’s debut country album on the newly formed independent label, Leo33, climbed into the top five on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. One of the songs on the record, “Dirt Turns to Gold,” caught the attention of listeners. And it just so happens to be one of Top’s favorite songs he’s co-written.
The tune tells the tried-and-true coming-of-age story of a young man who wishes to leave his family farm to see if the city has anything better to offer. Like other contemporary classic country hits on the subject, like the often-covered, country standard “Where Corn Don’t Grow,” the protagonist soon realizes after leaving his hometown how good he had it.
Top wrote the touching song with fellow writers Carson Chamberlain and Paul Overstreet, and the tune was born in part from Top’s own experiences growing up. His childhood days were spent on his family’s ranch in Sunnyside, Washington.
Nostalgia With a Twist
His single “Sounds Like the Radio” was one of his first songs to catch the attention of country music fans, helping him find a place among the more traditional artists of Nashville’s music community.
The single pays tribute to the singers before him who helped lay the groundwork for vibrant storytelling, soul-baring vocals, and plenty of fiddle and steel guitar. In the first verse he sings, “I came out cryin' Chattahoochee,” a reference to one of Alan Jackson’s biggest hits. David Lee Murphy (“Party Crowd”) and Joe Diffie (“Pickup Man”), as well as other artists, also receive references to popular tracks from their bodies of work.
While references to the greats often pull listeners into Top’s catalog, they stay because the songs also stand on their own as creations unique to the style of country the singer-songwriter is cultivating.
Currently, Top is spending his summer as a supporting act on country hitmaker Dierks Bentley’s Broken Branches Tour.
In September, the touring musician will make a stop in Colorado to headline two shows at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Honor and Fun
Despite high praise, the singer keeps a level head, especially when it comes to songwriting. He shone a light on the simplicity people are drawn to within his songwriting. “Just say what needs to be said that gets the message of the song across. It makes people feel something.”“It’s a fun spot to be in.”
