Real country music is coming back.
Despite “country” being on the rise and dominating the charts, the genre has for the most part, been lost. Pop-country and Folk-country is the trend. Zach Top has burst onto the scene and is bringing an old classic sound back. His music is undeniably pure country.
If his new album, Cold Beer and Country Music, was released during country’s golden age in the 90s, it would’ve blended right in.
The fiddle and steel guitar instantly help the album attain that retro feeling.
Songs like Use Me, I Never Lie, and There’s The Sun feature strong emotion and are characterized by their calm and melodic sound.
The songs are most comparable to the country music legend, Keith Whitley, who was the king of that kind of sound.
Speaking of Keith Whitley, it’s not a stretch to make that comparison. Top worked with Carson Chamberlain, Whitley’s former bandleader and steel guitarist. Chamberlain also collaborated with old famous country stars Alan Jackson and George Strait.
While Top has a lot of success with the soft sounds, he can also give you songs that are foot-tappin’, honky-tonk fun.
Songs like Sounds like the Radio and Cold Beer and Country Music may not have as much emotion or substance like the mellow songs, but they are still very strong. The upbeat and twangy sound make these songs instant hits.
As soon as that guitar hits, you can imagine the scene; a group of people in cowboy hats and their best blue jeans, as their boots scoot across the dance floor.
Alan Jackson is clearly another reference for Top in these songs. Jackson was great at making a catchy twangin’ tune. Indeed, Top and Jackson have very similar voices.
Similarly to how Top paired with Chamberlain, he also paired with Brent Mason. Mason played guitar for several country stars, including Alan Jackson himself, on his beloved cult-classic song, Chattahoochee.
One of Top’s biggest hits, Sounds like the Radio, needs its own spotlight because the song summarizes what Zach Top is all about. There’s a reason why it’s the first track on the album.
It makes it known that Top idolizes the stars of many years ago. He is a fan just like everyone else and lives and breathes that 90s country culture. The chorus speaks for itself.
“Sounds like the radio
Back in ’94, you know
Hook a speaker up to my soul
It sounds like the radio”
Many have tried to replicate old school country, very few can do it like Zach Top.
It doesn’t feel like a gimmick. When you listen, you don’t get the impression that he is trying to replicate this retro sound. It just simply IS that retro sound.
The album is a love-letter to fans of this era. It’s everything a fan could ever want.
The best part about it all? He is only getting started.
In an interview on the Big D and Bubba radio show, Top says he has been writing non-stop for the last five years and has about three albums ready to go.
Top has since released another single, Beer for Breakfast, has finally cracked the Billboard top 100, and has been nominated for a country music award for “New Artist of the Year”.
Country music is coming back and Zach Top is at the head of the charge.
