High praise from one of the most underrated songwriters in the genre.
It’s hard to imagine a more fascinating artist in today’s country music landscape than Zach Bryan. In a six-year span, the “Something in the Orange” singer has gone from recording his debut album, DeAnn, in a Florida Airbnb and scoring viral hits online to selling his publishing catalog for a staggering $350 million and, most notably, setting the record for highest-attended concert in U.S. history when he performed to a crowd of 112,408 at Michigan Stadium.
Though there’s no doubt that artists such as Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson and Cody Jinks were the forefathers of the current independent and alternative country renaissance we’ve currently been experiencing over the better half of a decade, there’s no denying that Bryan was the one who blew the door off the hinges, so to speak.
While Childers and Simpson, and in a way, Chris Stapleton, paved the way for the death of some of the worst country music had to offer in the genre in late 2010s, the Oklahoma native quite clearly paved the path for a more folk-inspired, songwriting-centric style of country that had been severely lacking over the past decade or so. Raw (sometimes even bad) production, introspective and emotional lyricism, Zach’s stripped-down style cuts straight to the hearts of his fans, connecting deep down on a level that you’ll rarely ever find on country radio.
One thing that’s become incredibly clear throughout the years, beyond the obvious quality of the songwriting, is just how rapid his releases truly are. Since his debut in August 2019, Bryan has released a staggering six albums, three EPs and over a dozen non-album singles, totalling up to 159 songs (161 if you count features on Kings of Leon’s “We’re Onto Something” and Jack Van Cleaf’s “Rattlesnake” rerelease) in just over seven years. Diving into the numbers, he’s averaging an incredible 23 tracks per year.
Undoubtedly, the quality and pace of his songwriting have caught the attention of many over the years. And while some critics argue that the pace ultimately hinders him, fellow artists have had nothing but praise for his unconventional writing, recording and release style.
Last year, Kings of Leon’s Caleb Followill had nothing but praise for Bryan’s rapid pace when writing, recording and releasing their first collaboration, “Bowery.” Here, he’d say he loved the approach and compared it to classic hip-hop in terms of his unpolished style.
“He’s like, ‘We’re putting it out in one week!’ I was like, ‘That’s it? We’re not going to, like, listen to it, see what we think?’ But we loved that approach. That’s his thing. If he has an idea, he puts it on video and sends it out into the world before he’s tweaked it.
It reminds me of old-school hip-hop artists, that hands-on approach, warts and all. People eat that up. If the only thing they hear from you is the polished finished product, you’re not letting them see the process and the thing that is really going to make them a fan.”
Recently, North Carolina native and extremely talented songwriter, BJ Barham, had similar praise for Bryan.
In case you’re unfamiliar with Barham, he’s the frontman for the severely underrated American Aquarium, who have remained one of the best bands in the genre for over a decade at this point. Undeniably, the band’s catalog has served as a diary for Barham, documenting each stage in his life and the sentiments he’s carried with an honesty and attention to detail that have made him one of the most important songwriters in country-adjacent music.
During an interview with Texas artist, Jarrod Morris, on his Jarrod Morris Vibe Podcast, Barham would offer up high praise for Bryan. Discussing the current state of songwriting in mainstream country and how many writers are present on big hits recently, Barham would highlight his stream-of-consciousness style approach to songwriting.
“I think that’s what Zach does great. Zach is a really great stream-of-consciousness writer. He doesn’t treat songwriting as a precious thing. He’ll prove it. He’ll write 20 songs every six months and then put ’em out. And as he writes ’em, he’ll just post videos of ’em on YouTube. There’s nothing precious about it.”
From there, he’d explain how impressive he thinks the “Plastic Cigarette” singer’s aforementioned pace of releases are, noting that he’s never seen a writer be as consistent as he has been over the past seven years. In fact, Barham would go as far as to call him one of the most prolific artists in a “very long time.”
“I’ve known Zach since he got started; I’ve never seen somebody stay in that flow state for this long. Usually people will write one or two really great records and then have to take a mental break and step away from the art for a second and then come back to it. Zach, since he posted the first couple videos on YouTube, has continuously put out music, through all the scrutiny, through all the haters. Whether you love him or hate him — we haven’t really seen a prolific artist like that in a very long time.
And knowing Zach, those songs feel like conversations with him. It’s like he just sits down, is moved by something, and then just writes it out. And doesn’t go back and edit it, he just records it. Then he’s like, ‘That is a piece of time that I captured. That is a complete thought that I had, and I’m done with it — onto the next one.’
Barham would also admit that he’s a bit “jealous” of Bryan’s mindset when it comes to releasing song, comparing his incredibly meticulous songwriting process to Bryan’s penchant for releasing whatever he wants.
“I could never do that. I have to scrutinize every line. I have to go back, ‘Does this make sense? Is this telling a whole story? Am I using something that resembles proper grammar?’ But there’s also a piece of me that’s jealous of somebody that can just scribble something down and be like, ‘That’s that, and I’m gonna put it out tomorrow on streaming platforms. And in six months, 80,000 people are gonna sing that back to me at a football stadium.'”
After touching on the way Bryan’s music has connected with so many due to his relatable, somewhat “vague” writing style, Barham would then go on to note how incredible it is that an artist from Oklahoma is selling out football stadium in an era dominated by surface-level pop music.
“In an age of pop music being really the only thing that can sell a lot of tickets, there’s this kid from Oklahoma with an acoustic guitar making up songs and selling out football stadiums. We haven’t seen that in our lifetime. Springsteen was the last one who did it in the ’80s; that was ’86.
Zach did it. Now Noah Kahan is doing it. There’s a lot more of just a guitar and a song transcending and selling out football stadiums. It’s crazy to me.”
You can love or hate Bryan, but when some of the best songwriters in the genre offer up that kind of praise, you can’t take it with a grain of salt.
Watch the full podcast here:
