IT’S HERE.
Billy Strings and Zach Top‘s long-awaited EP is here. The Apple Music exclusive, where the 2x Grammy Award-winning artist teamed up with Zach Top to bring him back to his bluegrass roots, is officially available everywhere as a three-track EP.
Back in November of last year, this duo shook up the scene, teaming up for an Apple Music exclusive session to play three songs: two of Top’s singles, “Bad Luck” and “Things To Do,” along with a bluegrass classic, “Don’t Cheat In Our Hometown.”
Written by Ray Pennington and Roy E. Marcum, “Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown” was first recorded by The Stanley Brothers in 1963. Then, Ricky Skaggs released it in November 1983 as his record’s first single and title track. The song is famously known to be sung by Staggs, as it was a massive hit for him, skyrocketing to the top of the charts as his sixth number one country hit.
Given that Top and Strings have been breaths of fresh air to the country scene, this collaboration highlighted two of the best talents in the business. Zach Top got his start in country music as a bluegrass player touring with his family band for over a decade, so seeing him get back to his roots was so fun to watch on the Apple Music session.
Zach Top’s family band was composed of Top and his three other siblings, and while it was fun for them to have a family band from an early age, it was clear that Top was himself doing this for a long time versus his siblings, who saw it as a fun side hobby.
“Yeah, we ran around 10 years. Luckily, I didn’t ruin any relationships with my siblings ’cause I remember having… we had some brutal band practices. I was definitely the one that wanted it really bad, and I’d sit down there and play guitar three hours a day and then try and get them to, you know, do a little band practice for whatever show we had coming up or something. I was definitely an unpleasant little tyrant a lot of times, I’ll say.”
He’s come a long way since then, leaning into the revival of ’90s music, but ZT still knows how to pick the hell out of a guitar. You can see that flat-picking style used in his music today.
Watching Billy Strings and Zach Top riff off each other is like watching a masterclass in showmanship, and you can tell they had a blast teaming up for this.
“We had a lot of fun, traded back and forth some playing and whatnot. It’s so fun to watch him play. And I feel like he’s known so much for a player that it gets passed over sometimes how freaking good of a singer he is too.
It was so fun to get to sing with him and him kind enough to come in on a couple of my songs and sing a second verse, sing a little harmony, do that kind of thing. It was a blast.”
After the session was released, non-Apple Music users began begging for it to be shared on other platforms. The cries got even louder after the two teamed up again on stage at Denver’s Grizzly Rose, showing that their musical chemistry goes beyond the studio.
After fans had been begging and pleading, they heard our cries and delivered, releasing the Me & Billy EP, which is everywhere today. The three-track EP features everything from the Apple Music Session and can now be enjoyed by listeners of all platforms.
This is a must-listen for your New Music Friday. Fire it up.
“Bad Luck”
“Don’t Cheat In Our Hometown”
ZACH TOP CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
February 28—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium^ (SOLD OUT)
March 1—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium+ (SOLD OUT)
March 5—Jacksonville, FL—Daily’s Place+ (SOLD OUT)
March 7—Orlando, FL—Kia Center#
March 8—Atlanta, GA—Buckhead Theatre+ (SOLD OUT)
March 11—Houston, TX—NRG Rodeo Houston
March 21-23—Willowbank, Australia—CMC Rocks
April 2—Oxford, MS—The Lyric Oxford~
April 3—Starkville, MS—Rick’s Cafe~
April 4—Starkville, MS—Rick’s Cafe~
April 5—New Orleans, LA—Hogs for the Cause 2025
April 10—Columbia, SC—Township Auditorium~
April 11—Winterville, GA—Athens Fairgrounds
April 12—Opelika, AL—Sistrunk Farms
April 24—Wilmington, NC—Live Oak Bank Pavilion^
April 25—Statesboro, GA—The Blue Room^
April 26—Tampa, FL—Amalie Arena#
May 1—New York, NY—Terminal 5^
May 2—Siver Spring, MD—The Fillmore^
May 3—Philadelphia, PA—The Fillmore Philadelphia^
May 4—Boston, MA—MGM Music Hall at Fenway^
May 15—Pikeville, KY—Appalachian Wireless Arena~
May 16—Indianapolis, IN—Everwisse Amphitheater at White River State Park~
May 17—Milwaukee, WI—Fiserv Forum#
May 29—Austin, TX—Moody Center*
May 30—Dallas, TX—Dos Equis Pavilion*
May 31—Tulsa, OK—BOK Center*
June 5—Alpharetta, GA—Ameris Bank Amphitheatre*
June 6—Tampa, FL—MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre*
June 7—iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre*
June 11—North Lawrence, OH—The Country Fest 2025
June 12—Toronto, ON—Budweiser Stage*
June 14—Tinley Park, IL—Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
June 19—Chula Vista, CA—North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
June 20—Phoenix, AZ—Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
June 21—Albuquerque, NM—Isleta Amphitheater
June 22—Telluride, CO—Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2025
June 26—Los Angeles, CA—Intuit Dome*
June 27—Wheatland, CA—Toyota Amphitheatre*
June 28—Mountain View, CA—Shoreline Amphitheatre
July 10—Virginia Beach, VA—Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
July 11—Bristow, VA—Jiffy Libe Live
July 12—Mansfield, MA—Xfinity Center
July 13—Clearfield, PA—Clearfield County Fairgrounds
July 17—Twin Lakes, WI—Shadow Hill Ranch
July 18—Cincinnati, OH—Riverbend Music Center
July 19—Noblesville, IN—Ruoff Music Center
July 31—Salt Lake City, UT—Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
August 1—Nampa, ID—Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
August 2—Quincy, WA—Watershed Festival
August 7—Camden, NJ—Freedom Mortgage Pavilion*
August 8—Raleigh, NC—Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
August 9—Charlotte, NC—PNC Music Pavilion
August 14—Darrien Center, NY—Darrien Lake Amphitheater*
August 15—Holmdel, NJ—PNC Bank Arts Center
August 16—Bethel, NY—Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
August 21—Savannah, GA—Enmarket Arena
August 22—Birmingham, AL—Coca-Cola Amphitheater
August 23—Biloxi, MS—Mississippi Coast Coliseum*
August 28—New York, NY—Madison Square Garden Arena*
August 29—Burgettstown, PA—The Pavilion at Star Lake*
August 30—Clarkston, MI—Pine Knob Music Theatre*
+with special guest Cole Goodwin
#supporting Alan Jackson
^with special guest Jake Worthington
~with special guest Lauren Watkins
*supporting Dierks Bentley
