Zach Bryan has arrived. Not yet 30, and established acts are lining up to collaborate with him. While of course, their purpose is partly to keep a fresh angle on their careers, whether they be on fade or fire, it’s more because they see Bryan as having something important to say. Everyone wants to be “Bryan adjacent”: Springsteen, Kacey Musgraves, The Lumineers, John Mayer, Kings of Leon and others.
Steeped in the singer-songwriter tradition with a foundation of folk and country leaning, Bryan – along with writers like Jason Isbell – shows us, as one music blogger calls it, “the changing of the guard” of musicians contributing to social change. A short clip of his latest song, Bad News, is fanning the flames of conversation and interest, because it captures what is happening in America right now – and it’s not even released yet!
With 25 million Spotify listeners and climbing, Bryan kills on streaming services, paddling his own canoe on TikTok and YouTube, building views and listens, playing gig after gig, growing a fan base from the ground up rather than relying on TV and radio to get him to market. He eschewed the majors until he had broken through, and the groundswell was huge. His was a word-of-mouth climb to the top and that’s how an act stays there in the 21st century, with a loyal and diehard fanbase.
His stance is fiercely independent and as a songwriter, he is as comfortable dealing with a confessional as he is with an anthem, with a political scenario as with an exciting romance. Bryan is now an authentic superstar artist, but still a vulnerable, relatable everyman. He writes great songs, has a plaintive, pleading voice, his pen inks a strong phrase and his songs spread across folk, Americana, rock and country.
I listened to a lot of his music this week. For today I first vacillated between the country rocker, Motorcycle Drive By, which was kick-started for me after airing on an episode of Yellowstone, and the sadness of Summertime Blues, a very different song to Eddie Cochrane’s rock ’n’ roll classic.
That said, I kept coming back to, and finally picked, the beautiful Pink Skies, a song about returning home for his mother’s funeral. Matching “beautiful” with “funeral”, is just one touching moment as the lyrics describe the homecoming and attendant tidying up, with its associated memories. The introduction plays over acoustic guitar, harmonica and mandolin, with Watchhouse in the guest chair. Lyrical bass guitar and a soft pickin’ banjo fills it out and the beauty gives way to a boisterous chorus, where Bryan pushes the vocal. Keep a watch on Zach Bryan!
I started a music WhatsApp group in 2023. I send one song a week on a Friday, with links to both Apple and Spotify, and an accompanying narrative/capsule piece. You’ll read it here on a Sunday. If you want to engage about a song, get a playlist or just get in touch, email me on markgrosin@gmail.com.
Listen to ‘Pink Skies’ on Spotify here and Apple Music here.
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