Zach Bryan Doesn’t Want to Be a Country Artist, But Hear Him Out

Zach Bryan‘s musical goals are bigger than any one genre.

During a recent, Rolling Stone-curated conversation between the “Pink Skies” singer and  musical legend Bruce Springsteen, Bryan commended Springsteen for carving out a niche entirely his own during his storied musical career.

Springsteen is something of an icon to the younger singer, who explained that he’s patterning his own career after Springsteen’s genre-defining, rebellious musical identity.

“I don’t want to be a country musician. Everyone calls me it,” Bryan admitted during the two artists’ conversation. “I want to be a songwriter, and you’re quintessentially a songwriter.

“No one calls Bruce Springsteen — I hate to use your name in front of you — but no one calls Bruce Springsteen a freaking rock musician,” he continues. “Which, you are one, but you’re also an indie musician, you’re also a country musician. You’re all these things encapsulated in one man. And that’s what songwriting is.”

Now, Bryan says he hopes to have a similarly genre-spanning trajectory.

“When I first started making music …. I was like, ‘I want to be in a lane where, when people look back, they can listen to my music and it’s supremely whatever you were doing.’ You were the only person in my head that has ever done that,” he reflects, speaking to Springsteen.

Bryan does tend to inhabit the country space more often than any other genre, but he’s always been on the fringe of country and several other musical styles, like folk, pop and rock.

Read More: Did Zach Bryan Just Boycott the Grammy Awards?

Recently, Bryan declined to submit his music for the 2025 Grammy Awards, in any genre or category. He’s previously spoken about his discomfort surrounding awards shows, and their tendency to make musicians feel competitive with each other.