Restless Road, made up by Zach Beeken, Colton Pack and Garrett Nichols, are making their mark in country music, but the journey to find themselves as a band hasn’t been a straight path.
Videos by American Songwriter
Beeken and Pack met while auditioning for FOX’s reality competition show, X Factor, in 2013. The two, who were auditioning separately, also met country singer Kane Brown, who was also auditioning. After both Beeken and Pack were eliminated, the show’s creator, Simon Cowell, invited them back, but this time as a trio with original member Andrew Scholz. Restless Road was formed.
Over the years, the band saw members come and go, including Pack, who left in 2014. Eventually, the band decided to take a break and go their separate ways. Then, as fate would have it, Brown contacted the guys, after seeing a video of the band doing a cover of “Good As You,” and eventually signed Restless Road to a record deal with his label imprint, 1021 Entertainment.
Now that the band has reconnected, they realize how much has come full circle—from starting the band and meeting Brown to taking a father’s wise words, turning it into their latest single and grabbing an opening slot on Brown’s Worldwide Beautiful Tour.
“You never know what’s going to come back around. Meeting Kane all those years ago didn’t seem all that significant at the time, but here we are today. That turned out to be huge blessing for us,” recounts Beeken.
Restless Road’s latest single, “Took One Look at Her Momma,” has a sweet and sincere story behind it, which stemmed from a piece of fatherly advice. The song, which will immediately get stuck in your head, has a captivating melody and lyrics that those in a relationship could benefit from hearing.
“It’s one of those things where you think of the song months or years before, just waiting for people to hear it. Now that it’s finally out, it’s a pretty good feeling to know that people are hearing it and enjoying it,” says Nichols. “We’ve gotten great feedback and support, so we couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Prior to writing the song, Nichols had an important question on his mind regarding his relationship. He thought, who better to get advice from than his dad. He asked his father, “How do you know she’s the one?” A question that usually comes with a response such as “you’ll know when you know,” Nichols’ dad had a better response.
He responded, “Son, if you want some sort of window into what a life might be like with a girl, all you got to do is take one look at her momma.”
A few years later, these words resurfaced and helped form Restless Road’s current single. Since releasing the song, the band has signed with Kane Brown’s new label, 1021 Entertainment, a joint venture with Sony Music Nashville.
“He thought we would be the perfect fit for the very first artists, so it’s amazing. We have worked harder this past year than probably we ever have when it comes to music. We have always said we believe in ourselves and it’s great to have people who believe in us,” says Pack.
Since meeting on X Factor, Brown and Restless Road have established a supportive partnership.
“I feel like there’s no limit to what’s possible with Restless Road. They have this incredible blend of harmonies, each has a different personality, and they can all individually sing and write songs,” Brown tells American Songwriter.
Restless Road plans to come back bigger and better than ever when they are able to perform in person again. “Nobody knew who we were last year and now a lot of people do,” adds Pack, “so, I think it’s going to be an incredible and rewarding feeling to get back to performing.”
Watch the lyric video for “Took One Look at Her Momma” below.
