Zach Top might be one of most promising new voices in this generation of country music, but even he admits to being starstruck by some of his musical heroes in the genre.
In a recent interview on Bussin’ With The Boys, Top recalls a few times where he found himself fumbling over his words and thoughts upon meeting legends like Vince Gill, George Strait, and Alan Jackson.
“When I met Vince Gill, he was another big influence on me, and I met him out at the Opry. It’s been a couple of years ago now, I guess, but I told him, I was like, ‘man, there’s not many people left alive that would make me starstruck and act like an idiot and you’re one of ’em. So I’m sorry in advance.’”
Top went on to say he feels the same way around acts like Strait and Jackson.
“I don’t know what to say to these guys. It’s kind of like, I wish I could just be cool and just have a normal conversation.”
Trying To Maintain His Cool Around The Greats
Now that he has gained his own level of popularity as an artist, he makes an effort to keep his cool and treat even the biggest names in the business how he would want to be treated.
“When somebody can just talk with you and bulls**t about something, that’s fun. It’s like, I know I’ve got a lot of fans and stuff and obviously nothing like these guys, but I don’t want to just be another guy saying, ‘oh my God, I grew up on your music.’ But it’s like, I don’t know what else to say to ‘em.”
The “I Never Lie” singer has been lucky enough to have had a few pinch-me moments along the way, including the time he got to participate in an impromptu jam session onstage with George Strait himself. During a charity golf tournament hosted by Strait in Texas, Top recalls being invited to jump on stage play guitar for the country icon.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve really had a conversation with him, but he’s been very nice to me and got to talk to him just in passing a couple times, which is cool enough for me…At his golf tournament the last night of it, they do a big show. So his band sets up there and there’s a handful of different artists there and stuff, so he’ll let everybody get up and do a few songs and he closes out the night and sings a little set. And this last year I was getting off and he was like, ‘man, stay up here and play something with us.’ So I got to hold onto the guitar and play a little backup for George Strait, which is pretty dang cool.”
Even after meeting big names like George Strait, Vince Gill, Chris Stapleton and Luke Combs, Top says the nerves still creep in. However, he also tries to remind himself that at the end of the day, no matter how famous an artist may be, they are all just people.
“Luke Combs was one that was just like, I saw him, I went to the CMAs for the first time last fall, and I’d seen him kind of across the room and wasn’t going to go bother him. Anyway, he ended up coming up to me and was just as cool can be and just like, ‘dude, I heard your stuff. Love it. You sound great. ‘And it’s like, it’s so awesome. I’ve been a fan of him for a long time.”
Earning A Fan In Willie Nelson
Some other top acts that the Washington native says he would love to get to meet at some point in his career is Hank Williams Jr. and Willie Nelson. Although he hasn’t gotten to meet the “On The Road Again” singer face-to-face, he has been made away that Nelson is a fan of his music.
“I’m friends with his son, Lucas Nelson, who’s also a great, great artist, great singer. Anyway, he texted me one time last year, we were doing an old song, Gary P. Nunn wrote, ‘Last Thing I Needed First Thing this morning,’ one of my favorite Willie Nelson songs. We were covering that in our show, and Lucas texted me one day and he was like, ‘man, I showed your cover to my dad. I just wanted to know, he thought you did a really good job on it. And he liked it a lot.’ It was like, damn, that’s cool.”
Top Hopes To One Day Sit Down With Alan Jackson
Even though Top served as direct support for Alan Jackson’s final shows in 2025, the pair haven’t had the chance to sit down and really have a conversation where Top could ask some of the burning questions on his mind.
“To have enough time to sit and have dinner, it’s like, I don’t know, we both love this music so much. Obviously, we’d have some things in common, and it’d just be fun to even not get into a bunch of deep questions about, ‘man, how did you handle the fame or the success’ or whatever it is, which I would love to ask that kind of stuff too.”
Top revealed that he would especially love the opportunity to ask Jackson or Strait about how they were able to balance their family with the fame so well.
“Just little things like that, just how they navigated life and how do you be so damn cool and still sell out stadiums when you’re 70 years old.”
Zach Top continues to build a strong name for himself while following in the footsteps of his musical heroes. He recently debuted his newest single, “Good Times and Tan Lines” and is raising anticipation surrounding his new album, “Ain’t In It For My Health,” which is scheduled for release on August 29.
“Theres a couple more life songs…it’s the same old me, sounds like the same artist but I think the music has matured a bit and its moving forward,” he said of the forthcoming collection.
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