Zach Top joins Katie Neal to talk music and more, after being selected as an Audacy 'LAUNCH' artist.
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00:00I'm Katie Neal from Odyssey Country here at our sound space in Nashville to announce our
00:06new launch artist for the next several months.
00:09You are going to be hearing a whole lot of his viral single, single, I Never Lie on our
00:13country stations.
00:14Truly one of the most talked about rising stars in the format, Zach Topp, congratulations.
00:20Glad to be here.
00:21Yeah, we're happy to have you.
00:24I want to talk about I Never Lie, which is flying up the charts right now.
00:29Talk about the response this song got and then like, like how it's not kind of sort
00:35of like getting that on its own and then becoming the single.
00:38Um, yeah, I think it's, uh, it's one of my favorite songs I've ever written.
00:43And definitely one of my favorites on the record.
00:46I kind of thought that it would be an album track that, uh, just because it, I don't know,
00:52it doesn't sound like anything that's working right now.
00:55Um, and it's more country, you know, kind of like more, uh, whatever you want to call
01:02it, left or right of center, just so hardcore country compared to even other things on my
01:08album.
01:09Uh, and so I would not have picked that one out to be the big, you know, quote unquote
01:15hit off the record.
01:17Um, but I was tickled to death when it was, cause like I said, it's one of my favorites
01:22I've written.
01:23Um, and it's just cool to me that like people picked one of the, you know, off the album,
01:29I feel like that one and use me are the two most like just stone cold staunch traditionalist
01:36country type songs that are on there.
01:38And so it's funny to me that those are kind of the two that people have latched onto,
01:43uh, that much.
01:45Um, and especially I never lie a good bit more.
01:47So, um, when did you start noticing that I never lie was like catching on, like at live
01:52shows and then like it kind of starts going viral, right?
01:55It was live shows before the album even came out cause I was playing a bunch of stuff off
01:59this album before we had actually put it out.
02:01Obviously we had a few singles out, uh, to streaming and whatnot.
02:05Um, but yeah, I think it felt like people were already catching on to that before the
02:10album came out and then when it did come out, it felt like immediately that was the one
02:14that just like blew up.
02:16Um, and uh, yeah, I don't know.
02:20I'm so happy it's that one.
02:21It's such a blast to play every night.
02:23People lose their mind at the, you know, the first little, it's great when you got a lick
02:30like that, that starts off a song that people know it like that's just, yeah, you want iconic
02:35little notes like that.
02:36Yeah.
02:37What is the story behind that song?
02:38I don't think I've ever heard that.
02:41There's not much of a story behind it.
02:42I'm a very sarcastic person and so it, uh, tickled me a good deal to just write an entire
02:49song that's all sarcastic and it's all a lie and the title of it is I Never Lie.
02:55Um, that, so I love that about it.
02:59And I just, I feel like there's a lot of the like great, great country songs that I grew
03:05up on and, and writers that I grew up on would do stuff like that that would always just
03:09like, it's like, yes, it's such a great sense of humor in the context of a sad song.
03:17I don't know.
03:18I just love it.
03:19And it's like, I think this was a Bob McDill song, uh, George Strait cut it.
03:24I know, but it's when, oh, if you told me so.
03:28And it's the whole song is like him being like, there's roses blooming in the Arctic
03:32Circle and icebergs in the Gulf of Mexico.
03:35I'd believe it if you told me so.
03:37And then like the verses are like, he's just a friend of yours.
03:40You've never even kissed him.
03:41You told me so.
03:42So just the whole thing is like, obviously a lie and sarcastic and goofy, and it's a
03:48terribly sad song.
03:49And this song is, you know, it's kind of follows a little bit of the same storyline kind of.
03:56And so, I don't know.
03:57I just love that kind of stuff.
03:58It, uh, yeah, having a sense of humor, not taking yourself too seriously while writing
04:04about a very familiar and painful subject to a lot of people breaking up with somebody
04:09and running into him again a little while later.
04:13And trying to put on the kind of macho, yeah, exactly, or not even macho, whatever it can
04:18be a guy or a gal's perspective.
04:20And yeah, just, no, I'm good.
04:23I'm on top of the world since you left me.
04:26I do love that it has like the humor element to it, because I feel like that's a really,
04:31like you sometimes when you write stuff like that, you risk it being super cheesy and like
04:36not coming through.
04:37But like it just is so...
04:38Oh, it's a very fine line to walk, for sure, for sure.
04:41Yeah, it can get corny in a hurry.
04:43But yeah, whatever the case, I had my producer, Carson Chamberlain, he's a co-writer on everything
04:48on that album.
04:49And then Tim Nichols, he's a Hall of Fame songwriter already.
04:51Usually, they wait till they're dead to put him in the Hall of Fame, but he got in there
04:57early.
04:58But no, it, yeah, it has some great help.
05:01And yeah, I feel like we walked that line pretty well and ended up hitting it right.
05:05Yeah, for sure.
05:07Like I said, we're so excited to have you as our next launch artist.
05:09Some of our previous launch artists include Jelly Roll.
05:12Have you two spent much time together?
05:14You haven't?
05:15I've met him a time or two.
05:16Super nice dude and love, yeah, who he is as a person and stuff.
05:21Yeah, we hung out.
05:22I know, maybe it was just once.
05:24I think we hung out backstage for a little bit last year at CMA Fest at the Stadium Show.
05:30That was the first time I'd met him.
05:32I don't think I've seen him since.
05:34Well, if I could think of two of the busiest people in the format right now, both of you
05:37are up there.
05:38So there's a lot going on.
05:39I'm happy to be in a company like that.
05:41How have you been?
05:42I feel like, you know, like you're on this rocket ship.
05:44We were talking a little bit before this, like for so long, everything was kind of like
05:47a steady build.
05:48Now it's just like, yeah, chaos, I'm sure.
05:50It's fun.
05:51I love it.
05:53This is all I ever wanted to do, really.
05:55And so it's, it's a lot of work and run around and don't get a whole lot of sleep and it
06:01can be taxing on you at times, but I love it.
06:04I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.
06:07And it's kind of every, every night that I get to go out on stage and people are screaming
06:12and hollering to hear the songs that I wrote.
06:15It's that like, if I'm tired or something before the show, which is a lot of times,
06:19it's like you kind of, I don't know, get your day started and then do sound check.
06:23And there's like a lot of work early on and then you kind of have a little chill time
06:26and can start to kind of drag before the show, don't start working until nine o'clock.
06:33But then second, I walk out on stage and have that kind of reaction.
06:36It's like, oh yeah, this is why I do this.
06:39All the rest of everything else, you know, all the interviews, the travel, the whatever,
06:46it's all to just like sell tickets and get these people in here and get them excited
06:51to hear the show.
06:52And so it's awesome.
06:53And I've got great people around me that helped me.
06:55Yeah, like you said, it felt like for a long time, it was a very manageable, steady build,
07:01you know, taking baby steps.
07:03And then all of a sudden something hits and it just kind of takes off and you got to keep
07:08up with it kind of.
07:09And I feel very fortunate to have a bunch of great people around me, my label, my management,
07:14my producer, you know, family, everybody around me, I think is great at keeping my head out
07:21of the clouds.
07:22And then, you know, in a more like concrete sense, like helping me manage, you know, growing
07:29this business and managing a career.
07:32So I'm loving every minute of it.
07:35That's great.
07:36I think it's so important.
07:37I remember Luke Combs talking about that a lot about how important it is to have good
07:39people around you because like you need the people who keep your feet on the ground.
07:42And you need the people to help you hang on for dear life when things get crazy.
07:47You're like CEO of Zach Top and all the people that like work for you, which is like, I remember
07:53Luke also saying at the time, like when you're, you know, 25 going into 30, like it's, you
07:58weren't expecting to be in that position.
07:59Like no one realizes that part of your job.
08:01Yeah.
08:02Oh, yeah.
08:03It's a lot of, yeah, you start to have a good little chunk of people sort of dependent on
08:10you a little bit.
08:11And yeah, there's some responsibility that comes with that for sure.
08:15Which I don't mind.
08:17But yeah, it's great to have folks that'll, yeah, help you through it and make it easier
08:22on you and yeah, help you manage the friggin whirlwind, I guess.
08:27All the things.
08:28Yeah.
08:29I was thinking about how much has like happened for you since you were in here over CMA Fest.
08:32Like I feel like the album made it on like every notable list of like great country albums
08:37in 2024.
08:38I feel like, you know, you, your headlining tour went on sale, like sold out instantly.
08:42You added more dates.
08:44Also sold out.
08:45Yeah.
08:46Like what have, what's been like the highlight of the last year for you that you're still
08:49like, I still can't believe this.
08:54I think just in general, like the switch flipped last year to, well, from like, I don't know,
09:05going and playing bar gigs and, you know, having a good little pile of people show up,
09:10but they want to hear covers and, you know, you can slide a couple of your originals in
09:14and now all of a sudden, pardon, it's like, they, they're coming for my stuff.
09:21It's, that's kind of the coolest thing, especially because I got to be a part of writing all
09:25those songs.
09:26You kind of see them from the seedling of an idea through getting it written, deciding
09:33you're going to record it, figuring out how you want to do that, recording it, you know,
09:37you hear the finished product recorded and then putting it out and people fall in love
09:41with it just as much as you are.
09:44That's, it's a cool, there's kind of like an intimate connection to all those songs
09:48because you see them from the, you know, very start of an idea to the finished product when
09:54people are hauling it back at you on stage.
09:59It's that's probably my favorite thing.
10:01It's just, I don't know.
10:03It's crazy to me.
10:04It's what I've always hoped kind of, uh, but yeah, that's just like something I created
10:11a little piece of me.
10:13You guys love it that much and you know, spend your hard earned money to come see me do it
10:18in a live setting is that's my favorite.
10:21That's what all of it's all for.
10:23Speaking of your live shows, I feel like it's always interesting to see like when the switch
10:28flips like you talked about and it goes from people like showing up or they just happen
10:31to be there or they're there to see the headliner and then they're there to see you.
10:36And I feel like just from what I've seen, like your fan base is so passionate and like
10:41nearly rabbit.
10:42Like they love you.
10:43Like the live shows just look electric and that has got to feel incredible.
10:47It's awesome.
10:48Yeah.
10:49I love every one of them.
10:50Yeah.
10:51They come out there and they're ready to have a good time and, and that's, that's a cool
10:54thing too.
10:55It's like they don't just know I never lie and sounds like the radio and that they know
10:59every song on the record and like, you know, it's obviously never lies the biggest one
11:03and you know, gets the biggest pop and reaction and whatnot.
11:06But yeah, like from the first five seconds of any song, they know which one it is and
11:13they're excited to hear it and sing along with every word and, and then even, you know,
11:17it's fun to do like now I'm not, you know, we do some well-known old hits for covers
11:24and stuff, but then we'll pull out some random kind of deep track stuff and they, they like
11:29what we're doing so much that they'll, you know, pay attention to a song that they didn't
11:33know before they walked in.
11:36And that's kind of a fun thing too.
11:37Cause then I get to, I don't know, enjoy you know, it's kind of, I don't know, you hear
11:44hits so much in their hits for a reason.
11:46You love the songs, but then it's kind of, I don't know, I find myself if I'm just getting
11:50in the truck and rolling down the road, listening to music, I'll go dig into some deep track
11:54kind of stuff.
11:55And, uh, and there's some great, great songs, uh, in that type of music as well.
11:59And so it's fun to pull, you know, one of those out every now and then and play it and
12:03have people enjoy that too.
12:04It's cool.
12:05Sure.
12:06I remember when you were in here last summer, you were talking about taking your first guitar
12:08lesson when you were five and wanting to learn Emeril one morning.
12:11And I was watching one of your videos, just seeing like some of the younger kids that
12:15are in the crowd at your shows, that's gotta be wild to like realize like the influence
12:18that you're probably having on like a kid that's five coming to your show.
12:21Yeah.
12:22It's crazy.
12:23Um, yeah, cause that's what I was.
12:26And I never saw George straight live till I was, I don't know, 21, I think.
12:31Um, but that was who it was for me.
12:34That was, you know, see that guy on TV or whatever on an album cover or whatever.
12:39And it's like, that guy's cool.
12:41I want to be like that guy.
12:43And so I want to hold a guitar and I want to wear a cowboy hat and, you know, he was
12:47the first one.
12:48And, and then, you know, Keith Whitley, of course, I want to sing like him and, uh, whatever,
12:52all the rest of the big influences on me.
12:54And it's, yeah, it's pretty weird and crazy and cool to think that, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm
13:03that for some other little kid out there.
13:06And hopefully that's, I can set a good example, you know, like, like a George straight type
13:12of guy did, um, of, you know, being a great artist and then a great dude as far as I can
13:19tell too.
13:20And, uh, yeah, I don't know.
13:22Have you gotten to meet George yet?
13:23Yeah.
13:24You have.
13:25Yeah.
13:26I played in his, he's got a charity golf tournament down in San Antonio.
13:27I played in that the last couple of years and so, yeah, I got to hang out with him a
13:30little bit.
13:31Um, it was fun.
13:33We, there was, uh, not too long ago, there was a Dean Dillon, uh, tribute show who was,
13:38you know, he's a writer on shoot 75% of George's hits.
13:43Um, and so there, they had a whole bunch of artists down in Birmingham.
13:49I think it was, uh, and, or no Huntsville, uh, anyway, I had a whole bunch of artists
13:55down there saying a bunch of Dean Dillon songs and a lot of those happen to be George straight
13:58songs.
13:59So of course George was there too.
14:00And he did a couple of songs himself too.
14:01Um, but I got to sing a couple of, uh, George straight songs on stage in front of George
14:06straight.
14:07Yeah.
14:08To honor Dean Dillon.
14:09And yeah.
14:10Was that insane?
14:11Oh yeah.
14:12It was, it was awesome.
14:13That's gotta be like the most nervous you've ever been.
14:14Yeah.
14:15Yeah.
14:16Other than doing national anthems.
14:17That's, that's pretty nerve wracking for sure.
14:18Yeah.
14:19And I'll tell you what was cooler.
14:20We, at that golf tournament thing he does, he, uh, on the last night of it, they get
14:26up and he's got his band back there and he gets up and sings 10 or 12 songs or something.
14:30And then, uh, you know, there's a bunch of other artists there and they get up and do
14:34a song with his band or whatever.
14:36Anyway, somehow I got to, uh, just be up there and be one of George's guitar players for
14:42the whole night.
14:44Back him up, playing my telly, uh, for that whole, for his whole set and then, you know,
14:49doing it with Jamie Johnson and a bunch of other great artists and stuff too.
14:52But yeah, it was awesome.
14:53I got to be on stage with him and he's like looking over at me, you want a solo?
14:58Yeah, I do.
14:59Yeah, well try.
15:00And then I forget how to play guitar.
15:01And George just asked me to play a solo and yeah.
15:04But uh, no, yeah, it's, yeah, cool, cool stuff.
15:08Never, uh, never had that on the bingo card in all the dreaming as a young child.
15:14Yeah, for sure.
15:15And then you just came off the Laning Tour, which looked like it was also great.
15:17What was your biggest takeaway from that?
15:19Oh, a lot.
15:23It was, uh, I think it was kind of one of the craziest things that now I'm starting
15:30to experience firsthand a little bit.
15:33It's kind of crazy how, which we were kind of just talking about how before the interview
15:38started, how quick it blows up and it becomes this massive operation.
15:44Like it used to just be a five piece band.
15:46We rolled up in my pickup truck and all our gear in a horse trailer and we'd load our
15:51amps out and set them on stage and plug in and start playing.
15:54And now it's, you know, you got tour managers and stage managers and yeah, it's just like
16:03it starts to become this massive operation in, in a hurry.
16:07And uh, and so it's like, I don't know.
16:10Yeah, it's kind of, it seems like it can get out of control, uh, fast without some
16:14good people, uh, around you taking care of it.
16:17And yeah, so that was kind of a wild thing to watch, um, cause we were first at three
16:22on that and you know, we were still very light crew.
16:25There was seven of us out there total.
16:26And, um, so that was, uh, yeah, we're kind of the, the slim crew there and, and everybody
16:34else has got a, a big crew with them and anyways, but, uh, yeah.
16:39And outside of that, she's just a phenomenal entertainer and it's puts on a hell of a show
16:43and it's just cool to, I don't know, it's cool to watch somebody, uh, just be great
16:50at what they do.
16:51Um, whatever it is, whether it be music or, you know, playing a sport or whatever, being
16:57a carpenter, I don't care.
16:59Um, but, uh, yeah, she, she's awesome and, and that she's such a sweet down to earth
17:05to me in person too.
17:06She's got to be friends with her and friends with her boyfriend a lot, uh, duck and, um,
17:11I just cool people out.
17:13Yeah.
17:14They're both, they're both a blast.
17:15Such a good hang.
17:16And, um, yeah, it's fun to, and she just takes time for little people like me and then, and
17:22then the people around me to, um, you know, just invest a little time and that she doesn't
17:28have to, it's not an expectation that I had and, you know, certainly not for, uh, yeah,
17:35I don't know, a lot of people I feel like, and she just puts a little time in and is,
17:38uh, is a very cool person when you're talking about how, like how fast everything kind of
17:43like blows up and becomes this entire operation.
17:45Like I'm curious, like how your life outside of like being on stage has changed.
17:51Like, are you at the point, like, are you getting stopped a lot now out in public?
17:55Like, can you run to the store if you need to, or is it getting hard?
17:58Um, I, yes and no, it's not getting hard.
18:03It's not to that point yet.
18:05I don't know.
18:06And maybe it will at some point, but I like, it tickles me to death.
18:10Yeah.
18:11When, when I meet people, it's kind of like, well, yeah, you saw me in Kroger.
18:15I still buy my stuff from Kroger too.
18:17I'm here doing my grocery shopping.
18:19That's I'll do a picture with you if that's, you know, it's kind of, to me, it's, uh, you
18:24know, that's the people that's buying tickets, that's paying my bills.
18:28It's the reason I get to do this.
18:30So if all it takes is a little picture and to say hi to me for a minute, to, you know,
18:35make your day, I'm all for it.
18:37What's the craziest place you've been recognized so far or somebody stopped you?
18:45It was funny the other day I was with a couple of my bandmates actually, and we were running
18:50to Whole Foods and my little acoustic guitar player, a guy named Cheyenne, uh, she was
18:56like, uh, she made some joke as we were walking in.
18:59She was like, now this is a place you probably shouldn't get recognized.
19:03This doesn't seem like your demographic of where folks are grocery shopping.
19:07And sure enough, there's a few people in there that came up and said hi and whatnot.
19:11So that was kind of funny.
19:12Uh, but, uh, yeah, um, that's a funny one.
19:16I don't know if there's anything, nothing wild yet.
19:19I'm sure it will get crazier as time goes on.
19:22No doubt.
19:23Um, I want to talk about the new song that you just put out beer for breakfast because
19:27now, um, album's been out, it'll be a year in April.
19:30So is this like first look at what you're working on next?
19:33Like, what can you say about that?
19:35That was just a little kind of fun one-off, uh, pretty much.
19:39I thought there was like, dang, if we're going into college football season, we put it out
19:44in September, I guess.
19:46And I just thought, heck, going into college football season, this should be the anthem
19:50for every tailgate every Saturday morning as a beer for breakfast.
19:54Um, so that was just, we'd wrote that song a little while back with, uh, Carson again
19:58and Kevin Denny and I don't know, it's just fun.
20:01We'd been doing it on live shows for a while and people loved it.
20:04So I just put this thing out and, uh, have it there for folks to listen to.
20:08But yes, we have new music coming, uh, at some point in the summer, no date nailed down
20:13yet, but we'll put out a new album.
20:14Um, and yeah, excited for that.
20:17That's wild to think like a sophomore album.
20:19Like is that crazy?
20:20It's crazy.
20:21It feels like on the one hand, like I'd said, we were already playing a bunch of the first
20:27album on live shows for eight months before the album came out, uh, and then toured the
20:33whole last year on that album.
20:35And then this whole, you know, my first actual, uh, official tour this spring is obviously
20:40on that album too.
20:42So on the one hand, it feels like the thing just came out yesterday.
20:46I can't believe we're already planning to put out the next one.
20:48And on the other hand, it's like, Oh, we've been playing this music on the road for a
20:51long, long time.
20:52And I'm excited to have some new stuff to add to the show.
20:54And I'm just always, I don't know, pumped to after the first stuff came out, it's kind
21:00of like, Oh, people still love this type of country music, uh, or just learning to love
21:06it now, you know, for a lot of the younger kids.
21:08Um, and so it's like, heck yeah, I got a bunch more songs stacked up just like that and that
21:14I need to put out because these people are going to love them.
21:16Yeah.
21:18So I'm, I'm so excited to have new music out and, uh, yeah, it'd be fun to have some new
21:22stuff to add to the show and, uh, yeah, just hopefully people keep falling in love with
21:27it.
21:28Like they did the first stuff.
21:29I think that they are definitely going to.
21:30One thing I want to ask you about before we wrap up, because this just personally made
21:32me laugh so hard a few weeks ago, I think it started out as like a satire thing, but
21:38then went viral.
21:39The Alan Jackson as your father, what did your actual dad think about this as it's happening?
21:46I texted both my mom and my dad and asked for an explanation and they neither confirmed
21:51nor denied.
21:52Um, it's, yeah, it's funny as crap.
21:55Uh, the, the timing is quite suspicious, but, uh, I loved it.
21:59It was, it's super fun because obviously I'm a big Alan fan and that was some of the stuff
22:03I grew up on for sure.
22:04Um, it's funny cause it's like one of those things, I feel like satire anymore.
22:09Like you almost don't know anymore.
22:10Like you used to know when like the onion went viral because it wasn't a real life.
22:14Exactly.
22:16The lines between, yeah, satire and reality become more blurred every day.
22:21Um, yeah, it, uh, where the funniest thing was I did, I sent that when somebody sent
22:29me that video for the first time, I'm not on social media or anything, so I don't see
22:32nothing.
22:33Anyway, somebody texted me that video.
22:36That's hilarious.
22:37I love it.
22:38So I texted it to my mom and dad in a group chat and I can't remember, I said something
22:43like, I was just like, uh, can I get an explanation here?
22:47And my mom's like, that's ridiculous.
22:49And I texted her back.
22:51Is it so ridiculous?
22:52Dot, dot, dot.
22:53And anyway, and then they were, they're coming out.
22:58We're opening up for Alan, uh, on a few shows this spring.
23:02And so the first one will be in Fort Worth in February and they're going to fly down
23:06for that show.
23:07And so my dad texted me shortly after I had, I sent them that video.
23:11He texted like a few days after and was like, Hey, just got the flights booked, uh, and
23:16the hotel's booked.
23:17Can't wait to see you.
23:18Whatnot.
23:19And, uh, he said, PS, if you didn't already have it planned, I'm going to need a backstage
23:23pass for that show because I'm going to need some things explained.
23:26So I hope, yeah, I would think that somebody, I can't imagine he's scrolling Instagram all
23:33that much, but I'm sure somebody in his camp is aware of the thing going on and so I hope
23:39he's getting a kick out of it too.
23:42And it's fun that, yeah, we'll be on tour together.
23:43Hopefully we can make a little joke out of that and, uh, yeah, have some fun with it.
23:48Very fun.
23:49Well, Zach Topp, thank you for coming in.
23:50We're so excited to have you as our launch artist for the next 16 weeks.
23:53I never lie.
23:54I'm going to be playing on all of our Odyssey Country radio stations.
23:56Thank you so much for coming in.
23:58Very excited and honored to be the launch artist and appreciate you taking the time
24:01talking with me.