When Sunday, August 10 finally gets here, it is safe to assume and predict a huge crowd at the State Fair of West Virginia mainly due to the concert that evening, Zach Top.
Now, I will admit, I had no clue who Top was, had never heard of him, and actually thought Zach Bryan changed his last name for some type of effect.
However, after listening to a few of his hits from the last couple years, it is easy to understand why fans are excited about this one.
I picked a song of his at random and landed on ‘Good Times and Tan Lines’ and instantly I thought of Alan Jackson and Aaron Tippin. The tune and his voice remind me of those too immensely.
Top brought back the old school country sound and honestly it takes you back to the mid 1990’s when listening to him. Before too long, I expect him to say that there “ain’t nothing wrong with radio when he’s down yonder on the Chattahoochee.”
Born in 1997 and just 27 years old, Top’s rise to fame in such a short time is pretty amazing. He hails from Sunnyside, Washington where he grew up on a ranch with his family. In his early teen years, he started a bluegrass country band with his brothers called Top String. At age 18, he moved to Boulder and attended the University of Colorado to major in mechanical engineering, but he dropped out after one year because he did not find it as interesting as he originally thought. So, after saving up enough money, Top decided to move to Nashville to pursue a music career.
An independent record label, Leo33, signed Top in 2023 and made him the flagship artist for their company. His first single, ‘Sounds like the radio,’ was released in January 2024 and 55 different stations added the song upon impact. It eventually reached the top 20 country songs in the country and was his lead single to his first studio album, Cold Beer and Country Music.
Top lists George Strait, Keith Whitley, and Randy Travis as his major inspirations and definitely brings that mid-90’s style back to the industry.
On social media over the last couple weeks, several people had commented “more tickets please,” referring to Top’s show. It is a good sign the crowd will show out on August 10. Cole Goodwin will open for Top.
