Zach Top earned his first no. 1 hit with his song “I Never Lie,” and he told us what has changed for him since attaining his first hit record.
Top was a guest on Taste of Country Nights, where he spoke on how he and his music have evolved since topping the charts.
“I’ve grown more into having my own thing. For a long time, as a younger artist, everything you like, you try to emulate,” he reflects.
“You know, when I sang a Merle Haggard song, I tried to sing it like Merle Haggard,” he elaborates. “When I sang a Keith Whitley song, I tried to sound like Keith Whitley. But at some point, if it’s gonna work you need your own thing.”
It’s the classic case of singing cover songs until you are popular enough to start mixing in your own songs, and eventually eliminate all cover songs from your set. But for Top — a traditional-minded artist — that once meant emulating the exact sound of whichever artist he is covering.
Once he saw that he could have success, and No. 1 songs, by just being himself, that’s when he and his career took off into outer space.
Top says, “I found some amalgamation of all the different things that influenced me and that I was a fan of and made it into my own thing.”
Top certainly has his own thing going now as he is headlining, not opening anymore. Top’s Cold Beer and Country Music Tour kicks off in September and runs all the way through November.
Wanna know more about Top and his secret backstory? We dive into that here.
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