On Zach Bryan Declaring “I Don’t Want to Be a Country Musician”
Thank God.
In a moment in popular music when everyone wants to declare themselves country, here’s a musician who’s more country than he is anything else, but due to his respect for what country music is, his honesty with the public and his inattention the marketing of his music, and his desire not to be pigeon-holed in a specific genre, he’s actually speaking the truth.
This is what we all hoped that Sam Hunt, Walker Hayes, and Florida Georgia Line would do in their heyday, and didn’t. This is what we wished that Jelly Roll would do now. This is what Taylor Swift actually did right before releasing her album 1989, and that honesty is what won her lots of good will within the country music community for finally being truthful about her music, and bowing out.
This is also what Beyoncé said in no uncertain terms before releasing her latest album Cowboy Carter, and wanted to emphasize this so emphatically, they broadcast her “This Ain’t a Country Album” declaration on the side of the Guggenheim Museum in New York as part of the album’s marketing campaign. And even still, due to false media narratives and the misunderstanding of Stans, Billboard has slotted her album on country charts, and the Grammys have it competing in country categories for the upcoming awards.
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In a one-on-one interview with Bruce Springsteen posted on Wednesday, October 16th, Zach Bryan declares point blank, “I don’t want to be a country musician. I don’t want to be a country musician. Everyone calls me it. I want to be a songwriter.”
And that’s what Zach Bryan is. He is a songwriter. When Saving Country Music reviewed Bryan’s latest album The Great American Bar Scene, the album was slotted on the Country Music Dewey Decimal System as “#570.15 (Singer/Songwriter-inspired Americana),” not as a straight country album. Because that’s what The Great American Bar Scene was.
That doesn’t mean that Zach Bryan hasn’t released country songs in the past, or that there’s not country songs on his latest album. Whether a song, album, or artist is “country” or not deserves to be considered on a case by case basis. You’d have a hard time convincing anyone that Zach’s songs “Open The Gate” or “Heavy Eyes” aren’t country songs. Far and away the most popular song on Zach’s new album is “28.” It’s a song set in waltz time where the melody is carried forward with a fiddle. It’s probably fair to call it a country song.
Overall though, Zach Bryan is a songwriter, just like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Lucinda Williams, and others that never fit well in country, but contributed to the country music canon, and fit better in country than anywhere else. Would we consider Zach Bryan hip-hop? Pop? Heavy metal or rock? No, we would consider him a songwriter. Noah Kahan is a similar case. But Zach’s music is more roots-based and akin to country, while Noah’s music is a bit more folk/pop based.
It’s important to understand that Zach Bryan isn’t declaring he doesn’t want to be considered country out of distaste. In the interview with Bruce Springsteen he says to Bruce, “I’m not insulting your genre, but when I listen to your music, I’m like ‘If you put different production to this, it’s a country song.'” And Zach Bryan is right. Bruce agrees with Zach, saying, “Right, right. There’s a lot of country influences,” just like with Zach Bryan.
The two also talk specifically about Bruce’s album Nebraska, which many consider Bruce’s country or “Americana” album. Zach Bryan says he was aiming for something similar with The Great American Bar Scene—to make an album that defies audience’s expectations and almost purposely under-performs commercially to slow everything down for a performer that’s gone from enlisted in the Navy to now selling out stadiums in five years. As Zach Bryan puts it, he wants to catch back up with himself.
So is all this talk why Zach Bryan recused himself for Grammy consideration for this year? He says at the start of the interview, “I feel like everything is trying to be on top of other music, competition-wise when it comes to awards and things like that,” so it seems like this is less about genre, and more about his artistic intention to have a more muted impact with The Great American Bar Scene, which frankly you can hear in the more hushed and slow songs from an album that lacks a true “single.”
Zach Bryan’s intentions deserve to be respected when he says he does not want to be a country star. So should Beyoncé’s, though she’s not being respected. Ironically, certain people and institutions are afraid of coming across as insulting to Beyoncé by saying she’s not country, when just like Zach Bryan, this boxes her into a genre as opposed to honoring her artistic intent.
Ultimately, genre is there to help connect creative expressions with the people who they are most likely to resonate with. Calling Zach Bryan straight country creates some of the conflict you see when his name is broached in country circles. Acting like his music isn’t akin to country at all is also a disservice to many of those who can, will, and do connect with Zach Bryan’s music, which embraces the long-standing singer/songwriter aspect of the country genre.
October 17, 2024 @ 7:45 am
I’m just here to see the perpetually angry dudes post their rage.
October 18, 2024 @ 5:40 pm
Rage at “rage” is still rage.
October 22, 2024 @ 10:53 am
Adam doesn’t seem to have any “rage” towards y’all.
Just amusement at the continual windmill tilting.
October 17, 2024 @ 7:46 am
So when Sturgill distances himself from Country music he’s a traitor, but when ZB does it he’s a class act?
Hmmm
October 17, 2024 @ 9:01 am
Not sure who called Sturgill a “traitor,” though I’m sure you can find someone somewhere on the dirty internet who did. Some fans were disappointed that “Sound & Fury” was such an aggressive rock effort, but many of those folks came back around with “Dood & Juanita” and/or the bluegrass releases.
Sturgill is a similar case to Zach Bryan where it’s probably not fair to call him a “country” artist and lump those expectations upon him. But I sure can’t listen to “Mint Tea” off the new Johnny Blue Skies album and not hear a country song. I think all of these things need to be taken on a case by case basis.
October 17, 2024 @ 9:37 am
Long White Line is the one Sturgill song I really
like. The rare trucker country song from recent years too
October 17, 2024 @ 9:43 am
I think most of the hate for Sturgill stems not from him choosing to distance himself, but more to do with him being an insufferable asshole that alienated half his fan base while also insulting patrons at his shows. For me, I stopped listening after attending the worst live show I’ve ever seen on his Sailors Guide tour.
October 17, 2024 @ 6:39 pm
You’re missing out on the best live show of 2024 then. The whole tour is on Nugs.net and any show from it is 3 hours long 10/10 no nonsense, including the banter.
October 18, 2024 @ 6:58 am
the sailor’s guide tour was the worst show you’ve ever seen? lmao. sure dude.
October 17, 2024 @ 7:51 am
Everybody forgets that singer-songwriter used to be a separate category before the 2000s. In the ’90s, singer-songwriter was a category that included people who sang over piano, people who sang with kind of a Celtic influence, etc. A lot of those folks have been rolled into Americana and Country music. I think it’s been generally good for country music but it’s not a particularly traditional style for country music so I’m not surprised he’s saying this.
October 17, 2024 @ 7:59 am
FWIW Jason Isbell said a similar thing in 2019: “I didn’t grow up wanting to be a country singer, and I still don’t really see myself as one.”
October 18, 2024 @ 4:29 pm
Except whoever called him country? That would be like the guy is Motley Crue coming out and saying they aren’t country…yea…we know.
October 17, 2024 @ 8:13 am
No rage or bad feelings at all, simply happy that he doesn’t want to call his folk grunge to be country!
October 17, 2024 @ 8:28 am
I wonder how much of his comment is aimed at the industry itself, and the Music Row ecosystem.
October 17, 2024 @ 8:42 am
Honestly, he is just saying what some of us already knew.
I can now have a peaceful rest of the day due to this earth-shattering news.
October 17, 2024 @ 9:17 am
I’m glad you wrote about this Trigger. I watched the conversation on YouTube last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Bruce is my guy, he and The Stones are the artists over the past 40+ years for which my passion for their music has not waivered through many phases of classic rock to metal to indie rock to now independent country. Zach is Gen Z’s and Millennial’s Bruce and this conversation only reinforced that a thousand times over. I think my favorite part of the discussion was about how they formed their bands – both went to “close friends, people they trust, guys that would call them out on their shit and keep them real” and not professional musicians. In other words, the exact opposite of the way it’s done in mainstream country.
October 24, 2024 @ 10:00 am
Great post Rich. I think my fave part of the interview is Springsteen’s bewildered laughter at how Zach became so big without hardly playing live! He just couldn’t process it!!
October 17, 2024 @ 9:30 am
Respect
October 17, 2024 @ 10:33 am
Bryan will have a long career because he seems to write compulsively. That’s a good sign, but it also means that as his musical chops improve he’s likely to explore more areas than four-chord folk. Again, not a bad thing.
He’ll be country if he continues to resonate with country people, if they hear him as being one of them and part of that tradition of sound. “Country music” is a pretty big tent.
October 17, 2024 @ 10:33 am
Whatever he calls himself…i call him good.
October 17, 2024 @ 10:35 am
OK.
Thanks for the statement, Zach.
October 17, 2024 @ 2:01 pm
He was being interviewed and answered the questions that were asked. Then Trigger chose to write about it, and you chose to read it. This isn’t like the time Mike Piazza held a press conference to announce he wasn’t gay.
October 17, 2024 @ 1:03 pm
It is SUCH a good conversation between Bruce and Zach. Really enjoyed their insights on songwriting, upbringings, etc.
It seems like Zach is on the verge of being completely overwhelmed by, well, everything. Hope he can ride it out okay.
October 17, 2024 @ 1:08 pm
Not a surprising statement. It was a stretch to call him “country” to begin with. Really depends how wide you open your Country umbrella over Alt-Country, Americana, and Folk. Judging from this commentariat alone, that umbrella size seems to vary pretty significantly by personal taste, as some never seem to care while others drown in a slight breeze.
ZB is a prolific songwriter. I just can’t see many that care about the purity of the “country” label being upset about it because they probably didn’t claim/gatekeep him in the first place. His audience is too young, sound too raw, and catalog too oversaturated.
October 17, 2024 @ 1:31 pm
That is why I published a Dewey Decimal System for the country genre, and think we should have similar maps for all musical genres. When I published it I thought I would get a lot of push back. Instead it’s been well-received. It ends a lot of the unnecessary squabbling about what is and isn’t country. Zach Bryan isn’t country, but he’s a singer/songwriter with a prominent roots influence. I don’t anybody would dispute that.
October 17, 2024 @ 2:00 pm
For sure! That has been a great add, IMO. It’s hard nowadays to judge an album by the name and cover. Plus, I’ve found your system and ear to be much more accurate than other sites that attempt to do the same.
Always entertaining to tell a friend you’re going to play some “Murder by Death” and watch their reaction to what comes out of the speakers.
October 17, 2024 @ 1:45 pm
I think that some folks look for too much authenticity when the grey area in which most of us reside has shades of many different influences that if we were an artist might be a part of our art. Listen to any artist that plays music and there really aren’t too many who you can say with absolute certainty that they were purists.
October 17, 2024 @ 2:32 pm
He seems to have integrity and songwriter definitely describes him better than country. Whatever he is, I like his music. Some great songs and he is entertaining. I saw Sam Barber in concert recently and thought he was trying to imitate Zach. Not one of the better shows I have seen.
October 17, 2024 @ 3:31 pm
Bruce likely could have been Country (Americana,anyway) but stayed in roots rock ala John Mellencamp.
Zach Bryan sees Country’s present offerings (well,Country’s less-edifying sounds) and believes he can write true and lasting Country,and he can.Perhaps Zach will return as an artist;he isn’t at all old.
October 17, 2024 @ 3:44 pm
Well nice article but zach has already said this before, i guess people needed his talk with bruce for it to hit home. Something i had already known, i didnt need him to point it out so ill neither give him credit or grief.
October 17, 2024 @ 4:01 pm
“I don’t want to be a country musician.” I’ve got great news for you, Zach….
October 17, 2024 @ 4:41 pm
He’s an enigma. Heavily influenced by Turnpike and Childers but seems to have attracted a different fanbase. I also sense many in the Americana realm don’t particularly care either way about him. Perhaps because hes a superstar and maybe that’s a turnoff. And maybe he’s not seedy enough or edgy enough like Townes or Steve Earle or Blaze Foley, you know the type, dangerous, with addictions, hangs out in bars, is only known by the underground inner circle, at least in their formative years.
Zachs formative years were in the Navy and he rocketed to fame quickly. Zero to famous in a year.
I never really considered him a trad Country guy in any way. Songwriter is a better description than anything else. However, many of the rural kids love him, so there’s that. At his shows you will see lots of hats and boots, so go figure. He’s a head scratcher to me, but man do people love what hes doing. If it’s working, don’t fix a thing, it obviously ain’t broke. Seems like a likable enough fellow as well.
October 17, 2024 @ 5:42 pm
Then don’t market yourself as country. Don’t headline Buckeye Country Fest. Don’t wear Reba McEntire and Alabama T-shirts. Bryan intentionally aligned himself with the Yellowstone franchise that was breaking country music artists at the time (that was his first national exposure outside of Saving Country Music). He was definitely marketing himself to the country crowd. And everyone here in the comments said he was trying to be the next Tyler Childers in the beginning and no one questions Childers country intentions (remember in the early days people in the comments conspired there he had ghost writers?)
Something changed and he has that right to evolve. Maybe, like Sturgill, he looked around and didn’t like the faces in the crowd that were staring back at him. He has to deactivate his social media accounts every other week because his views don’t align with the fan base he attracted.
October 17, 2024 @ 7:43 pm
I’m just not sure I would assign that much intention to Zach Bryan. I think he’s a kid from Oklahoma who had no clue what was happening, and was holding on for dear life. He was wearing Reba and Alabama T-shirts, and the printed striped shirts of the ’90s era, because that’s what was cool to him at the time. He played Buckeye Country Superfest because they gave him a big check to. He was on “Yellowstone” because everyone was on Yellowstone. They reached out to him, and set him up with Dave Cobb so he could actually have songs that fit the show.
He didn’t say, “I never was a country musician.” He said “I don’t want to be a country musician.” I don’t think he wants that responsibility and expectation. He just wants to write songs, and render them whatever way feels right to him at the time. And sometimes, that way will be country.
October 17, 2024 @ 8:09 pm
Thank you Trigger. Not to make a pun its very weird how the most innocuous things Zach says (especially when you read the whole article and get context) can get people so up in arms.
October 17, 2024 @ 9:05 pm
Was going to say get people triggered i.e. the pun
October 18, 2024 @ 1:03 am
Not to mention he collabs with Sierra Ferrel and Kacey Musgraves…country artists.
I saw the clip of him talking with Springsteen and it was embarrasing. ZB makes it obvious that he doesn’t have a deep understanding of music. His little contrarian stunts seem like efforts to make himself appear as more of an artist, when it just makes him look more like the “male Taylor Swift” to those who aren’t solid fans of his.
I can empathize with him some because with social media instead of his remarks being heard by a handful of people they are being seen by millions. He’s allowed to grow and change, but his success came from social media and it’s a double-edged sword – what gave him his success will also be the conduit for others to hate on him when he slips up.
I still think ZB is a net positive thing in country music despite my not liking his songs. Social media is just an impossible thing to navigate at that level and not draw a bunch of hate that can eventually drag them down.
October 18, 2024 @ 8:41 am
He also collaborated with Bruce Springsteen, John Moreland, The Lumineers, and other non-country artists. The first artist I really saw Zach Bryan praise to the hilt was John Moreland, a songwriter.
October 18, 2024 @ 5:39 pm
Yes I remember on his later music that he did collab with them and John Mayer and each time his song sounded like a direct take on famous songs from Springsteen (I’m On Fire) and Mayer (Guess I Just Feel Like). I really wonder what the backstory to that approach was and how he got to collab with those artists.
October 18, 2024 @ 12:20 pm
To: Fake “strait”, Identify thief is equally an unforgivable crime. Are you sure you want to mess with George Strait?. “Remember, people get hurt sometimes…before you go and cross that line, remember…people get hurt sometimes…….(George Strait 2024, “Cowboys And Dreamers “)
(Willie Nelson 2024, “Don’t Mess With Old People “) You have been forewarned. A word to the “wise”
October 18, 2024 @ 5:40 pm
I am for free speech but I also see the validity in yanking internet access from anyone over the age of 55.
October 17, 2024 @ 6:39 pm
I don’t care what genre. I love genre bending. Good music. I love Sierra Ferrell. She mixes Genres. I don’t care what label people stick, and I don’t care what she does on her next album, and she doesn’t lose me as a fan of she puts out an album I don’t love. Billy Strings – same. Marcus King – Same. Kayla Ray – same. Colter Wall – same. Tyler Childer – same.
October 17, 2024 @ 9:24 pm
I read Sierra is struggling right now. I’m hoping she makes it through the rough patch—if that is true.
October 17, 2024 @ 7:44 pm
Lucky for him he’s barely either.
October 17, 2024 @ 10:54 pm
Still is, and always has been, more folk than country.
October 18, 2024 @ 6:58 am
…well, it seems as if country radio and the cma were quite right not to have bothered too much with zach bryan, who does not see himself as a country artist after all. which is fine, actually, since anybody should be free to choose what he wants to be or being considered as.
perhaps, he should, however, officially inform “billboard” about his by now repeated intention/decision, so that his albums and songs would be taken off the respective country charts and leave space for more dedicated country artists, following the reasoning of dolly parton when the cma recently did not nominate beyoncé at all for the upcoming awards. this would only be a consequent move from his side.
lastly, i cannot help but feeling a little for trigger. supporting (for good reason) an up and coming young talent in a format called “saving country music” and then that. what an ungrateful bugger mr. bryan turns out to be now that he has made it.
October 18, 2024 @ 12:31 pm
Sure doesn’t sound like Trigger is bothered by these comments. This is much ado about nothing. Good for ZB for being honest about how he sees his music.
“he should .. inform “billboard” … and leave space for more dedicated country artists”
^Give me a break. He should come off Billboard so a less-country Radio Label pigeon can have their shot as cos-playing a country singer? He’s more country than the average artist on that chart.
And for what it’s worth, had he called himself country, there would be twice the reaction from people disputing his claim.
October 19, 2024 @ 6:45 am
…”This is much ado about nothing” – indeed.
October 18, 2024 @ 4:03 pm
“i cannot help but feeling a little for trigger. supporting (for good reason) an up and coming young talent in a format called “saving country music” and then that. what an ungrateful bugger mr. bryan turns out to be now that he has made it.”
Zach Bryan is like politics and college football. Whenever the subject is broached, people immediately veer into the irrational.
I’ve been saying Zach Bryan is a songwriter for five years. People scream at me ‘HE’S NOT COUNTRY!!!” and I’m like , “Yeah, he’s a songwriter.”
I don’t understand how I’m supposed to be hurt or jilted by this. As I said in the article, I’m grateful for the honesty, and I wish more artists would be honest about this that aren’t.
I have never felt any ounce of ungratefulness from Zach Bryan about anything. The last time I saw him in person, he was super grateful toward me, and I think he’s gone out of his way to say how grateful he feels to have the opportunities he’s been given. A large portion of his interview with Bruce Springsteen was about this very thing.
October 22, 2024 @ 10:57 am
There is nothing irrational about barking at Alabama fans, and the rest of the anti-UGA deep state.
October 18, 2024 @ 8:26 am
“Grammys have it competing in country categories for the upcoming awards.”
Though I absolutely believe the Grammys want to play savior and say “unlike those r@cists at the CMA, we’re recognizing the year’s best-selling new country album” … it’s the artists/teams who generally make submissions in the categories they want. The academy can overrule, but have we seen anything to suggest Beyonce submitted her music in other categories and it got moved to country? My sense is that she absolutely submitted here.
October 19, 2024 @ 1:46 pm
Ringo Starr and T-Bone Burnett
October 20, 2024 @ 10:54 am
I never thought this guy was country, I always figured he wanted to be Springsteen. Bruce’s music crosses genres. Songwriters write songs and other people put them in boxes. I’m not a fan of Bryan’s music, but not allowing himself to be pigeonholed is a good thing and should give him the kind of longevity few Nashville label creations ever attain.
October 22, 2024 @ 11:56 pm
Something about Bryan gives off a creep factor. Call it intuition or whatever but there is something about that guy.