Singer/Guitarist Cheyenne Dalton Let Go From Zach Top’s Band
Zach Top’s rhythm guitarist and harmony singer Cheyenne Dalton Meyer has been let go from his backing band. It also appears that Zach Top’s bass player and Cheyenne’s husband Jimmy Meyer is also no longer with the band, though this has yet to be publicly confirmed. Cheyenne let her followers know of the departure on social media Wednesday night (4-22) as Zach Top gets ready to commence his 2026 tour in Lubbock, TX on April 24th.
“A little over a month ago, I was let go from my position with ZT,” Dalton said in a statement. “While this was unexpected, I want to thank all of you for following along with me on all of my adventures. I’ll miss all of the fun, playing great music, and meeting every one of you. I couldn’t have done this without all of your kindness and encouragement. You all built up my confidence, and I have transformed into who I am today because of you!”
Cheyenne Dalton met Zach Top when they were growing up, and they played on the bluegrass circuit together. Dalton actually started in Zach’s entourage as the merch girl, and then replaced her sister-in-law in the band when the sister-in-law stepped away.
When Dalton joined Zach Top’s band, she didn’t know how to play guitar. She was a fiddle/mandolin player. In a month’s time, she had to learn guitar and a 90-minute set to join the band. Early on, Cheyenne would also play fiddle and mandolin, and was the band’s utility player. But more recently, she’s focused mostly on acoustic guitar and harmony vocals.
Cheyenne’s role was important in Zach Top’s band because Zach Top plays his own lead Telecaster guitar, leaving a need for a rhythm guitar. Dalton would also regularly sing a song during a Zach Top headliner set such as “Suds In The Bucket” by Sara Evans.
Similar to Cheyenne Dalton, bass player Jimmy Meyer also grew up playing with Zach Top on the bluegrass circuit, and helped comprise the nucleus of Zach Top’s band that saw Top rise to become one of the most popular artists in country music, and now a Grammy winner for his most recent album, Ain’t In It For My Health. Zach Top’s more recent fiddle/keys player David Meyer is also part of the Meyer family.
“I’m back home in Missouri now, and although I’m not sure what comes next, I’ll still be here posting my daily life,” Cheyenne says. “If you choose to stay around, I thank you! Who knows, maybe someday I’ll put out some of my own music for the world to hear.”
No word on who might replace Cheyenne Dalton and Jimmy Meyer in Zach Top’s band, or why they were let go.
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April 22, 2026 @ 8:10 pm
Zach Top has had his 15 minutes.
It is over.
April 23, 2026 @ 1:40 am
The 15 minutes of fame are up.
April 23, 2026 @ 1:51 am
…if you need a bass player…..just sayin’
April 23, 2026 @ 4:01 am
Bummer, My daughter is looking forward to seeing Zach and King George tomorrow in Lubbock, hopefully they will get it together.
April 23, 2026 @ 6:52 am
No reason to think that Zach won’t have a pro band behind him on this upcoming tour. It’s just Cheyenne and probably Jimmy will not be in it. It will be interesting to see who is.
April 23, 2026 @ 5:40 am
Totally unexpected!
Couple months ago i attended a Zach Top show in Zurich and she was great during the whole set, switching between acoustic guitar and fiddle and singing harmony vocals.
Hope she’ll stay in the music biz.
April 23, 2026 @ 7:22 am
It’s unfortunate that artists/bands go through lineup changes, but it’s part of the business that’s unavoidable. Most people have no idea what goes on financially in a musical organization, independent or major label. I’ve seen Zach twice, and the band was amazing, but there are other musicians that are just as good that they’ll be replaced with. Some artists can’t afford to take the creme of the crop out on the road because they’re too expensive. I’m pretty sure Zach is not in that category. His so called “15 minutes” are far from up, he’ll be around a long time. Now let’s take Flip–Flop to radio for the summer and have a #1 hit. What are you waiting for?? FFS!!!
April 23, 2026 @ 7:24 am
Welcome to the music business.
April 23, 2026 @ 9:02 am
When I first took an interest in bluegrass music I was amazed at how much turnover there is in bluegrass, even some of the most well known bands
I had a chance to see Moe Bandy in concert Saturday night, he has a 4 man band behind him, and a couple of those members have been with him over 30 years. That seems to be the exception in the country music industry more than the rule.
April 23, 2026 @ 3:04 pm
Look at Blackberry Smoke. Going strong since 2000, and only one original member not there now (which couldn’t be helped.).
April 23, 2026 @ 9:41 am
Who was the previous rhythm acoustic guitar and backup vocalist lady? I saw them play just before he blew up a few years ago and the woman doing that job was phenomenal but I don’t think it was this person. If I remember right she had curly lighter hair.
April 23, 2026 @ 12:31 pm
That was Jimmy’s sister.
April 23, 2026 @ 9:59 am
Guess their career topped out.
April 23, 2026 @ 10:52 am
Pure speculation, but one has to wonder if the label isn’t exerting more influence on Top and his entire act due to the his sophomore album being a relative commercial (and critical) flop.
Might have been easier for Top and those close to him to push against label involvement when the star was rising, but now that his career has plateaued some that ability to push back might be gone.
April 23, 2026 @ 12:07 pm
Labels don’t much care who’s playing in your live band. If you push back against a major label, you won’t be signed to that label very long. There’s a long line of solid talent willing to do whatever the powers tell them to do in order to have a chance at stardom. It could be a financial decision, a personality clash (it happens, even with life long friends). Regardless of the reason(s), Zach will be able to draw from a rich pool of session talent.
April 23, 2026 @ 11:14 am
This isn’t to knock those two, as they did a good job and I’m sure it was a difficult decision (barring some actual crazy reason they were let go). But the bass player and his wife aren’t on Zach’s or especially William Bagby’s playing level (absolute monster tele player). If you know anything about the levels of players in town and have seen Zach’s band live, you know this already.
As someone that’s been around the touring industry in Nashville for a while, this is almost certainly an upgrading of his band. Nothing more and probably nothing personal. I’m betting the new bassist and acoustic players will be heavy hitters like Bagby. But again, nothing against these two – they did a great job.
These “15 minutes of fame” comments are incredibly stupid. Top has a long career ahead of him.
April 23, 2026 @ 12:09 pm
Yep. There’s a deep pool of session talent in Nashville. An artist could swap out players every week and never miss a beat.
April 23, 2026 @ 1:21 pm
Precisely…the Nashville music industry, rightfully, catches a lot of flack. But the actual players in town are incredible. Guarantee the new bassist will be an A list caliber bass player and the new acoustic player will be someone that can solo like Zach and Bagby.
April 23, 2026 @ 1:17 pm
There’s probably more to this than we all know
April 23, 2026 @ 1:40 pm
People who feel the need to make comments like “his 15 minutes are over” – what is gained from making such comments? What is the point? What’s the reward? A dopamine hit? A general feeling of satisfaction from talking down about or criticizing someone? Even if you feel ZT has achieved an undeserved level of accolades, what detrimental effect does that have on your life, and what positive effect would it have on your life if “his 15 minutes” WERE over? What psychological reward do you get? 20 seconds of self-satisfaction with no actual reason to be self-satisfied?
April 23, 2026 @ 1:43 pm
Holy question marks, Batman!
April 23, 2026 @ 3:22 pm
Well comma I apostrophe m trying to understand the point comma and the motivation period
April 23, 2026 @ 3:34 pm
Calm down, it was a joke.
As for understanding the point/motivation of the “15 minutes” comments. I don’t know, welcome to the internet?