Why Zach Bryan BLEW UP (Every Artist Can Do It)

One day I put like four or five videos up, and they just went like crazy viral, and I was like, cool, neat. And then my life just kept going up and up and up. Hey, Stitchell, thank you so fucking much. for having us. We love you, we love you, we love you, we love you. This guy's, you know, outside of his barracks to shoot videos in the middle of the night in like hundred degree weather. It's the classic underdog. Zach Bryan was using music as therapy. It's like a relief from life. That's why everyone like wants to play music or like listen to music. What can artists take from the Zach Bryan playbook? Alright. All right. So we did an episode about Dochi. All right. We talked about how she went from working at a Chipotle to winning a Grammy. Rapping burritos to awards. Let's go. And we called that the Dochi Playbook. Yes. And what we think we want to do with this series is really just unpack what it is that makes the top artists successful.

And we don't want to talk about the things that aren't helpful to independent musicians, right? Because there's a lot of things that famous artists, A-list artists do and have done. Spend a quarter million to get on the radio. It's not hard. Exactly, right? Like we're not doing that. Yeah, there's there's things though that I feel like artists that are operating at the highest level, there's tons of different things that they do really well that can apply to an artist at any stage of their career. Whether you're just getting started, whether you've been doing this a few years, or whether you're fucking decade deep in the game. Um so today we want to focus on our boy Zach Bryan. Zachy B. Okay. And admittedly, I had never really done this. is what I love about this series that we're going to hopefully keep doing more of. I got to dive deep into Zach Bryan's discography. I got to do a lot of research in preparation for this episode, trying to determine what can artists take from the Zach Bryan playbook. Yeah, like we knew this would be a good episode for this playbook series. Playback Ben.

Not giving you credit for the whole series. Maybe I'll be playbook Ben, I don't know. But you know, after diving deep into it, yeah, it's like really this is a really good one, I think that's gonna hit home for a lot of you guys, especially you guys that are nice with the pen. Like if you guys are out there writing some heat, like this is this is for y'all. There's hope, trust for sure. Listen to what we got to say. So as I was doing my research on Zach Bryan, I think that the first thing that I think an artist of any level at any stage of their career can take from his playbook is authenticity. So we we we've talked about being authentic and authenticity on the podcast a lot. Um music marketing experts like love to tout authenticity as like something that can help you and your artist brand cut through the noise. Um and I think Zach Bryan's a perfect example of that. Um so this dude is born in Japan but raised in Oklahoma. He's uh a son of a long line of uh of people that served in the Navy and he followed in their footsteps, right? Um, so when it came to like rolling out his music, right?

I think the way that he was authentic to himself and his like navy roots was really cool, right? Like something we've shown, you know, time and time again. Artists that kind of showcase their like nine to five, if you will, early on in their career, it works. Like people want to see you go from whatever the fuck you're doing that's not music full time, they want to like be a part of the the reason why you can do music full time. It's like cooler to like an artist while they do still have a regular job, like, oh, this guy's super nice, but he's still like serving in the military. That's crazy. You know what I mean? It's the classic underdog. It is. We love an underdog story. We love it, man. Like, as much as like, and I feel like, you know, us being in Atlanta and like hip-hop and rap being predominant, right? Like, I think there's there's a little bit of a misconception that like you gotta already act like you've made it. And like that does there is something to be said for that in like, you know, certain certain genres like rap. Uh, but but I think you know, specifically Zach Bryan being an acoustic, you know, singer-songwriter type of character. Um, I think that like the way that he was able to authentically showcase his like, you know, serving in the Navy through content was incredible, man.

Um, this guy's, you know, outside of his barracks, you know, getting his buddies to hold up a cracked iPhone to shoot videos in the middle of the night in like hundred degree weather. And uh you go on YouTube, you know, he's got this video heading south. It's literally a vertical video on YouTube, shot on an a broken iPhone that now has 32 million views. Oh my God. And that's just there's all types of other things we could talk about with that. Like people that think they need the best gear, they gotta blow their whole budget on a high production music video. Um, no, this guy's relying on great songwriting and being authentic to himself. So it's very inspiring. Why do you think artists shy away from being their authentic selves, right? Like, is there I think there's a level of people are afraid to like feel embarrassed. I think there's like an embarrassment. Like, I'm not good at like just the real me is not good enough. Yeah, or just in being insecure about like that. I do still have a job, you know, because you want people to look at you as this larger than life, you know, famous Hollywood person, you know. what I mean, whatever. And that's

just not the case. Like, especially now, I think with the rise of TikTok, the reason that these random people were going viral and getting famous, TikTok famous, is because they were so normal. And we like we miss that. You know, we're kind of sick of the overblown, overproduced superstar. Like, we like people that are relatable and people want more of that. I'm a human being, you know, and I want that experience to be like the main driving force of the music itself. It's like we're all just humans trying to get through life and enjoy each day together. And good news for all of you. We are all normal regular people. So, like, yeah, if we can figure out how to lean into that, uh, like Zach was able to do, I think we're gonna see some success. So, yeah, that's a huge one for him. So, I think like the authenticity also, you know, brought it brought itself out in his songwriting. Yes. Um, I think like something that again, per to your point earlier on, like if your pen is nice, like you can take this music shit really far. Yes, right.

Um, we still love a good song, right? Like fans love a song, yes okay. And so I think that like, how did he get started again? Like I as a songwriter. Yeah, I mean, dude, it it like it just it called him. He didn't even choose it. Like this guy was hearing songs in his head, oh, and he was just called to write them down and record them, you know. And I think it stems uh from a lot of pain, and there's some, you know, there's some dark stuff in his background, he lost his mom, and these songs were just kind of popping up in his head. And uh we talked to Ruff recently, we can pop the link to his episode up there. He talks a lot about like, you know, having your your brand pillars, right? Like, and it's not your font or the colors that you use, it's like he does brand therapy with his clients. It's like, no, going really deep. What is the reason? Like, why are you making music? Who is this music for? And without I think even knowing it, you know, Zach Bryan was using music as therapy.

He was writing songs as therapy, and that became, you know, that was instantly just a super strong foundation. Like this guy needed to write these songs. Yeah, I mean, he literally almost it seems like he almost gets offended being called an artist. He says he'd rather be called, he's like, No, I'm a songwriter. You guys are making me an artist. I don't know. I just like writing. Yeah, it's crazy. And he's specifically offended if you call him a country artist. Oh, right. No, no. Because he does blend the lines a bit, you know, some rock, some indie whatever stuff in there. So yeah, I I think, you know, once again, I dove into his discography, you know, in preparation for this episode, and like he's got this kind of just melancholic, super vulnerable, raw, you know, we speak about authentic, like it feels like you can't not believe him with his writing. 100%. It just feels so real because it's so raw. It's so raw. His voice is very like gritty and raspy sometimes. And I mean, even the fact that he is shooting on iPhone videos and a lot of his music is acoustic, and there's not some high production, you know, crazy, like instrumental stuff going on or crazy flashy stuff in the videos, you are kind of forced to listen to the writing. It shines a spotlight on the writing because there's not anything else that's crazy flip, it's just a sweaty guy and a guitar on the screen.

So it's like you you're listening to the words and you're following along the story, and because he is such a good writer, we connect. Yeah, he had no crutch to to lean on, it was just the bars. That's it. Hey, Henry here. Sorry to interrupt this podcast, but there is something I have to address. As many of you know here at one more time, we love doing live music reviews. We love hearing the music from our community and providing helpful feedback that is hopefully helping you further your career. But if there's one piece of advice that we are tired of giving, it's that your master is too quiet. We shouldn't have to turn up the volume for your song just to have to turn it back down for the next song. That's not good. But Henry, good mastering engineers are so hard to find and so expensive. Enter DistroKid's newest tool called Mixia. I master music myself. And while I don't think AI mastering will ever replace the quality you get from an experienced human mastering engineer, it's pretty damn good. And if you already distribute through DistroKid, you can now master unlimited tracks using Mixia. And if you don't, we have a link right here.

You can sign up for DistroKid with 30% off. Upload unlimited music yearly for an insanely cheap price. Humans perceive louder as better. It's dumb, but it's true. Use Mixia for a clean master, and you won't sound weak on that playlist. Let's get back to the episode. It's interesting. I feel like something that we run into a lot with with independent artists is they're trying to write about something that like we just don't believe you. Mm-hmm. That's a big feedback we give on our live reviews. Yeah, and I think the feedback we give is is oftentimes I feel like it kind of comes from two different angles. One of which is like the performance, right? Like it is how how are you delivering what you've written. Yeah. Tone of voice, yeah, you know, cadence. Exactly. Like just conviction, you know what I mean? Right. Um, but then there is the actual bars too. It's like big part still. What are you saying? Right? And I mean, not everything needs to be as deep as maybe some of like Zach Bryan's songs. Like his are pretty like introspective, and they're dealing with like raw, real emotions and shit, and like it gets pretty gets pretty deep, right?

Um, but I think like the writing being believable, right? It it kind of transcends like how deep it is. You know what I mean? Like if you're talking about smoking weed, we want to really believe that you're out here smoking weed. You know, that could be a brand pillar, it's fine. Exactly. But you need to do that deep, you know. He calls it, rough, calls it brand therapy to really understand. And then everything else kind of just falls into place when you have those core pillars in line. I really believe that. Yeah, for sure. So like, you know, we've had T Ron Thomas on, we've had other, you know, songwriters, and you know, we know songwriters. I mean, what do you think someone can do, right? Because we're talking a lot about like how important writing is. Are there any things that you remembered? I'm kind of putting you on the spot here. Was there anything you like remember from some of those episodes that are like things that someone can take away from this and be like, oh shit, like here's how I can maybe level up. I think starting with you know, actual things that happened to you in your life is a great point. Um, Zach in particular has like, he seems to have kind of just random lines that seem like, oh, that's kind of a weird thing to mention right there, but it or like it maybe it seems out of place at first.

But it must have happened. But it was a it was a moment that happened in his life, and it yeah, something caused him to say that, and it feels right, even though you know, from the grand scheme of things, if you fed it into ChatGPT and said which line is out of place, you know, it might say that one, but but it feels right. So you can kind of moments like that make me feel like it comes from a real place. So yeah, I always think you know, grabbing from real experiences is a great place to start. I think something that a lot of artists are probably uh hesitant to do that is they think like, oh, everyone's been through this, or everyone's done that. Like I'm not unique enough. I'm I haven't experienced something so special to write about. But I think, you know, fucking T Ron Thomas, Grammy winner for songwriter of the year in 2023, I think, um, like he talked about there's a million infinite ways to talk about heartbreak, to talk about love, to talk about like passion. If you think another there's not gonna be another hit love song because there's already so many, you're insane. Like it's gonna happen.

It's it's happening through your lens. Yes, and that's what makes it unique. Yeah. So I I think it's about like how can we create a new spin on something that, like, yes, we're experiencing because we're human and a lot of other humans have experienced it. But dude, there, I mean, there's something to be said for the reason why a lot of hit songs are about love and about things that a lot of people have gone through is because it's fucking relatable. That's right. Like, and and something that I think, you know, to your point, Zach Bryan has done so well, not only just through the songwriting, but just through his like overall brand, is relatability, bro. This guy, he's in country, but he's not out there with a fucking cowboy hat and big belt buckle, I don't think. Like, he looks pretty just like raw and stripped down, regular dude, regular ass dude to your point, like singing his ass off, sweating his ass off, Sweating. He looks like he's like a fun time, like a uh, you know, a good hang. Yeah, right. Like, there's something to be said for I can't remember who it was, but I always found this kind of like weird, but also understandable. It's like you as an artist, either people want to be like friends with you, they want to be you because you live this like certain lavish lifestyle or whatever, or they want to get with you, or they want to get with you, yeah, right.

And so I think like Zach, I'm not saying like the ladies don't want to get with him, but he does seem kind of more of like the just we want to be friends with you. Yeah, like I want to just hang with this dude. Like I want to hear his life story. And I want to hear him tell me stories around the fucking campfire while we're just drinking beers and chilling or something, right? Um, so I think that's what is so powerful about his writing is that it feels so fucking like it just feels like he's talking to us. Yeah, and it is because this guy still goes back to Oklahoma and walks in the field and his bare feet feet and like puts his phone away and just does the country life, you know what I mean? He's he's really doing that shit still. Yeah, oh, that was one other thing that I remember from I want to say it was actually from Ray Daniels uh at the God Show event that we went to here in Atlanta. Um, he obviously manages T Ron Thomas, so he's very well versed in the the whole songwriting sphere. Among other things. Um yeah. He talked about, he gave this advice to this uh R&B songwriter that came up on the stage and performed their song, and he was like, You you couldn't read your lyrics. Like he was like, read your lyrics without melody.

Yeah, just say that Just say your lyrics. Don't sing them, don't sing them. Yeah, and froze. He couldn't, yeah. Because it's not how a person talks. Yeah, like Zach Bryan's lyrics and songwriting, it feels like he's just talking to me. A very poetic person. Sure. It's not like it's not like perfect normal human yo dog, my girl, dump me. Fuck man. Yeah, yeah. It's a little more eloquent than that, of course, but it feels. it is conversational. Yeah, it feels like you could read it in a book, yeah. Yeah, that's a good way to do it. And I think he did get a start like writing poems or something. Did I read that right? He's very deep in like poetic. I think he was like writing Actual poems. Like, I think he was fact check us, please on that. I don't know. I started writing poems and stuff when I was a kid, and um those turned into songs because writing poems is lame, right? Not really. Now that I'm 27, I know that it's not. But when I was a kid, I thought that and I was like, what way can you write poems? And it's not weird.

That's why I started playing guitar. Yeah, I think he was writing poems before even like that was you know, he was dealing with a bunch of mental health shit. Like his mom passed away while he was in the Navy and he was struggling, and I think to your point, shit was kind of like flooding him. I don't know, like, you know, spiritually, whatever, and it was kind of coming to him. And I think he was starting off by just writing it down like in poem form, but then he started performing it, you know, and then he heard a little melody in his head, and then it all started coming together, and then this is his new therapy, man. It's music is so cool, man. I love it. I love music. I can talk about this shit for hours, man. Same. Um, but no, I think the the other thing that we wanted to make sure that artists took away from like the Zach Bryan playbook. Um, obviously his songs translate really well still, though, into a live show. Which is crazy, but for how minimally, you know, produced that most of them are. It's wild. I was looking at some footage of his live show, yeah, and I was like, damn, like I didn't know how it would translate. Yeah, because it's just a guy with a guitar for the most part. I mean, but everyone's singing along, bro.

Yes, everyone's singing along. But there's a few unique things that have kind of come with his like live show, right? Like, one of which is like he's very he's kind of like obsessive about it, right? In the sense of like he wants it to be this very pure, like he doesn't want it to be tainted by other people like doing you know, wild shit during the show. Like he wants everyone to feel like comfortable and like feel like they're getting the most like out of the experience, and like they're getting what they paid for, right? He's like very intense about that. And a lot of artists, I'm I'm sure maybe a lot are, but like he's been very vocal about that. Whereas some might also just be like, Look, I'm out here doing a job, like whatever's happening out there ain't it ain't my problem, you know. I think just on the regular guy tip, like I think he really looks at his live shows as a ticket buyer. Like he's in the he sees it through the lens of the fan at the show. You know, he's he always talks about he he performs every song at every show, and he does, you can go watch, like to his fullest.

He's giving the best experience that he can because he knows there's always someone out there that's seeing it be performed for the first time. What I do when I go on stage, I look out at the audience and I I pick out one like kid, whether whoever it is, I pick out one kid who's like in it, and I'm like, man, this one's for you. Whereas if you're doing, you know, got a hundred shows a year, you it's very easy to probably go on autopilot and just you're the star, and then there's people out there, you'll never meet their know their name or meet them, and it's fine. Just put on your show and get your check. But uh he seems to really care about the fans. Yeah, I think I think we're seeing a really cool shift in like the modern music uh era that we're in, uh, where artists, of course, there's exceptions to this rule, but like artists don't have this like I'm up here and fans are down here. Yep. It's very much like a level playing field, which I'm loving that, bro. Because I it just feels like we're so we're so much deeper connected with our favorite artists because we feel like it's not this hierarchical setup where it was before. It's like a superstar thing. Yeah, I don't know. Everyone was untouchable before, no matter if you were like a C-list artist or an A-list,

it still felt like you were holier than thou, better than me as the fan, whatever. I'm here to serve you. It's like, no, I think Zach has taken the approach of like he's here to serve us. I think it's because we're all on our devices so much that we're just lacking real human connection and we just need that side theory. I think I mean there's some validity to that, but I also think it's like I can take my time elsewhere, bro. If you don't have options, if you don't value my time, we have options, bro. Bro, I'm going to watch Netflix expeditiously. Fuck you, Zach Bryan. Like, you know, what I'm going to listen to another artist. There's a hundred thousand plus songs being uploaded every day. There's millions of artists. Like everyone, the the barrier to entry in music is so low. The barrier to entry in any form of entertainment borderline. You can make a movie for fucking cheap these days. Throw it on Tubi. Yeah. So like I I think it's I think it's finally at a point where like they have to respect us. Yeah.

Um, and I think that it's for the better. Uh I think it's honestly for the better for both, right? I think they can build a deeper connection with their fan base and they can actually like understand what's going on within their fan base. Whereas, like, I'm sure artists uh in the past were so probably like out of touch with really like what was going on and who their fans even were. And a lot of them still are. Well, for sure. You know, but the ones that are doing it right, like the ones that I think like Zach Bryan, um, you know, there's kind of like that that deeper connection that really can be built during the live show. And another example of him really caring about his fans through the shows is how he manages the ticket prices. Oh of his shows. Okay. He's a big advocate of keeping like the resellers, and he's like he's anti-reseller. He keeps ticket prices very manageable. I think the best possible seats you can get at a Zach Bryan show are like 150 bucks. Wow. And he could, he's doing arenas. Man could charge a grand. That's wild. Someone that does that not in music, but in like comedy and and live performance, is is Theo Vaughn, actually. Oh who I love.

Yeah, I love Theo. I don't know to what degree he can prevent it, but he like every podcast episode, he's like, and you should only get them from this website to avoid being scammed and like high ticket price. Like he's like anti secondary ticket market. Dude, there's robots out here sniping tickets and reselling, and like the ticket economy is wild. Yeah, I think we can have a whole episode on that, to be honest. Yeah, absolutely, man. But Zach's fighting it. Yeah, He's doing the Lord's work. But this is the Zach Bryan playbook. Like I said, we're gonna keep it. I got one bonus. What is it? I just saw your shirt and I was reminded because we we do have the fuck content shirts. Brand new. I just want to remind people this has been a very nice, like branding, humble, like poetic songwriting episode. The man was posting content also. He was posting on Twitter. He got noticed organically. He was posting on YouTube. TikTok came out. The man was posting on TikTok. He was going up. He was posting. Bro, just when they thought they were gonna get through a whole episode. Without talking about content. I snuck it in at the end.

baby. You bitch, Henry. You bitch. He was posting and people fell in love with him. I'm just saying. This has been the Zach Bryan playbook. Post. Take a page out of this shit, apply it to your own journey. We'll see y'all at the top, baby. See ya. Peace.