It’s becoming more and more apparent by the day that Zach Top is here to stay as a star in country music. Between scoring a CMA Best New Artist nomination and earning an all-genre Billboard chart placement with “I Never Lie,” the Washington Native has quickly risen as the new “it” artist in the genre.
Appearing on Dale Brisby’s podcast, Rodeo Time, back in January, Top talked about everything from life as a touring musician and his current success to his musical upbringing and influences on his patented 90s sound.
Discussing influences, Brisby brought up the fact that the “I Never Lie” singer has listed the likes of George Strait, Keith Whitley and Alan Jackson as influences. When asked who else he points to as inspiration from the 90s, Top listed Mark Chesnutt, Joe Diffie, Tracy Lawrence and Randy Travis.
Top noted that he particularly hears people compare him to Travis and Doug Stone the most, “It’s either Randy Travis or Doug Stone which is funny to me because Doug Stone I never really listened to a whole lot… Those are the most common comparisons I got.”
After diving into some bluegrass influences that included the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Larry Sparks and Tony Rice, the 27-year-old singer/songwriter recalled “hating” his sisters for playing too much Shania Twain growing up, “I remember hating my sisters because they played so much Shania Twain. When we were 12 or 13 years old, I was listening… I had box sets of George Jones going back to the fifties. I think they hated me for always blasting that in my room, and I hated them for listening to Shania Twain and Martina McBride.”
It seems like Top learned to appreciate Twain and McBride’s sound over time, finishing by citing both of the 90s superstars as influences, “I think that stuff too had a big influence on me.”
You can’t really blame Top too much, I mean who hasn’t needlessly hated their siblings for listening to an artist nonstop? With that being said, he had it a lot easier listening to Twain, who has the second-best-selling album in country history, than any run-of-the-mill boy band from the late 90s.
All we need now is a cover of “Any Man Of Mine” from Top to really bring the story full circle.
Watch the clip and full interview here: