Zach Top made waves earlier this year with his album Cold Beer and Country Music. The Washington native’s neotraditional country sound would have been right at home on the radio in the mid-’90s. Today tracks like “Sounds Like the Radio” and “Beer for Breakfast” scratch a nostalgic itch for many fans. Top’s sound is a breath of fresh air for others who crave authentic country music. Recently, he showed off his knowledge of classic country with an impromptu cover of Willie Nelson’s classic “Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning.”
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Last week, Zach Top attended the PNC Live Studio Sessions hosted by the Portland, Oregon-based radio station 98.7 The Bull. While there, he shared songs, stories, and more. At one point the host and music director at The Bull asked Top about his favorite cover to play while he was working the bar scene in Nashville. The “I Never Lie” singer said he didn’t work through the Music City bar scene. However, he did have a cover to share. Watch him play his recent favorite below.
“I didn’t do the Nashville bar scene, I didn’t have to go down on Broadway. I was just sitting around writing that whole time and still working construction is how I made my money,” he said. “I’ll tell you, one of my latest favorites. I’ve known the song forever. A couple months ago or something it hit me really hard and it was like, ‘Dang, you need to be doing that during the show,’” he added. “It’s a little ol’ Willie Nelson song if you ever heard of him,” he joked before starting the song.
Zach Top Gives Advice for Aspiring Artists
During a pre-show interview, Zach Top was asked to give advice for aspiring artists. He revealed the path he took to acclaim. “I just spent a whole lot of time in my basement playing and singing before anybody started paying attention,” he said.
“But also, growing up, running around playing bluegrass festivals and stuff like that. That kind of got me started being on stage, being behind a microphone in front of a bunch of people, learning how to entertain,” he recalled. Long before he was playing neotraditional country music, he cut his teeth playing bluegrass with his family’s band.
Then, he shared a solid piece of advice. “I think the biggest thing is just playing and singing until it’s undeniable. Then, social media these days is obviously a great tool. That’s how I made a lot of big breaks. I just started posting stuff online and it seemed like people liked it so I just kept going,” he explained. “At some point, something popped and that was kind of my foot in the door to start getting noticed by some people in Nashville. So, that’s a great tool. Just keep playing and singing every chance you get.”
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