It’s always fun to hear your favorite artist’s career path before making it big or going for their dream and pursuing music.
Zach Top is one of the hottest names in country music right now. The Washington native has been on the rise since the release of his debut album, Cold Beer & Country Music. The “I Never Lie” singer was even nominated for this first CMA Award last year, making it a breakout year for Top, to say the least.
Now, he can’t even keep tickets on the shelf as his first headlining tour sold out in what felt like the blind of an eye. The demand for tickets was met with some frustrated fans as they felt like he did not realize his level of fame, chose venues that were too small, and scheduled too few dates for the Cold Beer & Country Music Tour.
But good news for fans: Top shared on the Rodeo Time Podcast that he will announce a fall tour this year, including some small arenas.
However, before Zach Top made it to where he is today, he (like many artists) had a backup plan. While chatting with Dale Brisby, the two talked about what Top was doing before he started consistently posting on social media. While Top went viral on social media many times over the last year with his music, he was not discovered on social media, as he played music for over a decade before his big break.
While Top knew he wanted to make music, he said his parents had no connections to the music world, so they encouraged him to get a stable job in case music didn’t work out for him.
“Well, it was 2015, actually; I had done two years of junior college. I thought I was going to be a mechanical engineer. Like my parents knew that I was really pretty good (at music), but they had no connection, no idea about the music business. No idea how to how to like point me in the right direction to like, ‘If you want to do this for a living.’
So my dad’s advice was like like, ‘No, you go get, you know, a good job where they pay you good, and you can afford to take weekends off and go play for fun at these same bluegrass festivals.’
So, that was all I knew was an opportunity. Obviously, I knew people singing for a living and stuff, but I had no idea how to even take a step in that direction.”
In 2015, Top moved to Colorado to work for a year before going to CU Boulder for a year, and then he quit and decided to go full in on music. Top then worked to save up and move to Nashville. During this time, Top was sharing a few videos, but nothing that had taken off until he shared a video of Daryle Singletary’s “Spilled Whiskey” on the day he passed. That cover was the first one that took off for Top.
@zachtop TikTok keeps blurring out my captions… sooo can we blow it up without em?! Here’s “Spilled Whiskey” #recorddeal #coversong#acoustic #4upage #fyp ♬ original sound – Zach Top
Sure enough, after that video took off, he started getting calls from folks asking him to move to Nashville. However, the deals didn’t sound like what he thought a record deal should be, so he sat tight.
Top waited until he got an email from his current producer, Carson Chamberlain, who asked to start working with him. Top thought he was trying to pull a fast one on him, so he ignored him for some time until the girl he was dating at the time encouraged him to email him back after researching him.
Finally, the two got together for lunch, and shortly after their meeting, Top started flying to Nashville in 2018 and began writing with industry professionals. Chamberlain offered Top a deal that seemed like it was how it should be in the music world, and the two have been working together ever since.
We can all thank the heavens above that the girl Top was dating encouraged him to contact Chamberlin. Top has extraordinarily shaken up the music scene, and without him, the landscape might not have returned to that traditional ’90s sound.
Zach Top was meant to be behind a microphone instead of working for an engineering firm.