Zach Bryan and AI

Unless you lived in a hole, You may have heard of the waves that Zach Bryan made in the pop culture zeitgeist. Not only did he have a record that was at the top of the charts for the betterment of a year, but he won the ACMA for new male artist of the year, four Billboard Music Awards and he is currently nominated for three Grammys, which is just insane! And to be honest with y’all, I had no idea who he was except for the repetitious nature of his song “Something in the Orange” being covered at the venue I work at, and the fact that my brother and his wife’s first dance was mistakenly that same song. But when an album shoots to number 1 and stays there, I tend to come around and actually listen to it even if it is outside of my wheelhouse. Upon first listen, I didn’t get it. I felt the mix was messy and the tracks unpolished. The only one I was completely sold on was “I Remember Everything” with the ever wonderful Kacey Musgraves. But it didn’t make sense, why were all these people flocking to this record? Why were all these artists wanting to collaborate with him in this endeavor?

But then I listened again…

And again…

And there was actually something there that is so counterculture to everything happening around us.

This year(like any of the past 5 years) was a weird and interesting year. We have continued to be fed propaganda from the media, where facts are simply one option to choose and the Binary has become disillusioned in favor of subjective truth. It was a big year in technological bounds including that of AI technology. What started as harmless chat bots, turned into a nightmare of stealing people’s voices and fake pictures that could be reality(though the Pope picture completely decked out in that jacket was pretty funny). I can see my own generation as well as those around us crave something real… 

Crave something that wasn’t a plastic facade of life…

And Zach Bryan brought that with his self-titled record.

I definitely began to feel the pull to what is real over summer with the viral hit by Oliver Anthony, “Rich Men North of Richmond”. A song that described the despair of the people in the midst of the elite that took advantage of them. It was a song that spoke to the common man. We were craving that which is real. Zach Bryan was able to capture that sound in his record. He didn’t need clean tracks or a polished mix, he just needed the room, a guitar, a mic and anyone searching for what is real.

I recognize that this year is an election year and, with the help(or detriment) of AI, the lines are blurred. Each side will employ their narratives in hopes that people believe their lies. But I know with a craving for reality, we might hold on to the right things and choose the things that matter.

I’m currently finishing the mix for my first single which will be out in the next few months, which is super exciting. But there’s a lot of work to do and their are quite a few things that matter that I have to take care of, so until my next post(possibly on my favorite records of 2023) do something real, invest into real relationships and maybe, just maybe we can stay away from the facade of the enemy.

(Also here’s my favorite Zach Bryan song if you are interested, note he does use some explicit language but I can’t help but love this song)