There is something different about the way Zach Top is doing Christmas this year, and it has nothing to do with looking polished or playing a role for the cameras. He is in a hoodie, holding a small starter guitar that looks almost too simple to matter, until you hear why it is in his hands. It is the same model he learned on when he was really little, and it was a Christmas gift that quietly set his whole life in motion.
That detail changes the story, because this is not a random giveaway or a seasonal stunt. It is a full-circle moment from an artist who built his sound the old-school way, with real picking, real songs, and that 1990s country spirit people keep saying they miss.
He grew up on a farm in Sunnyside, Washington, started playing before he was five, and spent years performing with his siblings before he ever chased a big stage. Even after Nashville, even after the radio buzz, the heart of it stayed the same.
Now he wants to put that same kind of first guitar into the hands of kids who are ready to try, whether they are boys or girls, as long as the spark is real. He is giving away 10 of them, and the window to enter is short.
Enter now at the link in bio. Ends 12/19/2025 10am cst
“Sounds Like the Radio” is his mission statement, celebrating the 1990s country sound he is reviving on purpose. You hear it in the Telecaster bite, the steel guitar, and the fiddle, with Brent Mason driving the hook. Once you hear that, the Christmas moment reads differently, because he is inviting kids into the same tradition that built his career.
Zach Top – Sounds Like The Radio (Official Music Video)
Years before radio hits and Nashville buzz, there is footage of Zach Top at 12 years old at the Wenatchee River Bluegrass Festival, performing “Muleskinner Blues” with Northern Departure. It is the kind of traditional song that demands real timing, real picking, and real vocals, and he delivers it like he has been doing it forever.