A country legend and a young newcomer sit on a couch, swap guitars, and launch into a wild bluegrass jam. Even if you have never heard their names before, you can feel it right away: this is old school country meeting the next generation in real time.
Every once in a while, country music gives you a moment that feels like it is just for the true fans. This one happens far from the big stage, in a simple backstage room in South Carolina.
On one side is Travis Tritt, the legend whose voice shaped the 90s. More than 30 million albums sold. Platinum records on the wall. GRAMMY and CMA awards. Part of the famous “Class of ’89” alongside Garth Brooks, Clint Black, and Alan Jackson. Songs like “Help Me Hold On,” “Anymore,” and “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive” are the soundtrack to a lot of people’s lives.
Across from him sits Zach Top, one of the new faces carrying that same sound forward. Young, sharp, and proudly neo-traditional. Instead of talking about “bringing country back,” he just plays it the way it is meant to be played.
Travis Tritt – Lonesome Reuben w/ Zach Top [Live]
What makes that backstage guitar swap even cooler is what Zach Top does when he steps onto a real stage. The same easy grin and old-school picking show up in a much bigger setting: The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, often called the Mother Church of Country Music. Here, he is not the “new kid” sitting across from a legend.
Zach Top – I Never Lie (Live At The Ryman)
And if you still wonder how deep Zach Top’s roots really go, there is one more place to look. In the studio, he teams up with Billy Strings, the biggest name in modern bluegrass, to cut a rich, ringing version of Ricky Skaggs’ classic “Don’t Cheat In Our Hometown.” It is part of their Me & Billy project, where they trade guitar runs and blend their voices in tight harmony.