Zach Top is a much different artist, for the better, after having a No. 1 hit. Top recently had his first No. 1 hit with "I Never Lie," from his Cold Beer & Country Music album. The success of the song meant for Top that he could finally be the artist he wanted to be, without trying to be like someone else.
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"I've grown more into having my own thing," Top explains to Taste of Country. "For a long time, as a younger artist, everything you like, you try to emulate.
"You know, when I sang a Merle Haggard song, I tried to sing it like Merle Haggard," he continues. "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."
Not that Top isn't still influenced by his musical heroes. In fact, he still channels all of them, in some way, with the music he makes.
"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," the 27-year-old says.
Zach Top Remains Rooted In Country Music
Top has been praised by several artists, including Willie Nelson and Dierks Bentley. He also proudly wears a cowboy hat. But for Top, it's not an indication of his career aspirations, but rather his childhood.
"We grew up on a farm, my dad and his partner ran a big old piece of land, with a bunch of Black Angus Cattle," Top tells radio station 92.3 WIL. "He still runs the sale barn out there. That was his main thing. He and his partner had a side deal, where they raised a bunch of cows."
"So we got to... play cowboy a little bit," he contineus. "Didn't have to do it for a living, but I like to say I spent enough time on a horse's back looking at a cow's a-- that I can wear the hat without shame. I got it before I moved to Nashville, anyway."
Top is currently serving as the opening act on Bentley's Broken Branches Tour.
