Many traditional country music fans laud Zach Top as the savior of the genre. The fingerprints of ’90s country mainstays like Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, and George Strait were all over his debut album Cold Beer and Country Music. Avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump with his latest album, Ain’t In It For My Health, Top continues to make his case for being remembered as one of country music’s greats. He prides himself on authenticity—which is perhaps why his newest look didn’t quite take off.
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Zach Top: “I Don’t Deserve to Wear That”
During a recent show in Charleston, South Carolina, a Citadel cadet tossed his cap onto the stage, where it landed at Zach Top’s feet. Established in 1842, the Citadel Military College of South Carolina is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges in the United States.
Picking up the cap, the “Use Me” crooner, 28, placed it awkwardly atop his signature felt cowboy hat. However, seemingly leery of coming across as disrespectful to the nation’s armed forces, Top removed the accessory almost immediately.
“That’s a serious hat. I was about to make a joke,” he said. “Well, I’ll just make the joke anyway. I felt like when I put that on, I was about to be a male stripper or something. But that’s a serious hat.”
Locating the cap’s owner in the audience, Top asked, “Did you buy this from a costume store, or did you do something for it?” Learning that the hat in fact belonged to a real-live military cadet, the ACM Award-winning artist replied, “We appreciate your service, sir! Let me send this right back to you because I don’t deserve to wear that.”
[RELATED: Zach Top Shares Music, Smiles, and Hope With Kids at Toby Keith’s OK Kids Korral]
Opening Doors Back Up
With nostalgia-tinged tunes like “I Never Lie” and “Good Times and Tan Lines,” Zach Top is carving out space for traditionalism in the modern country music landscape. And it isn’t only lovers of traditional country who are benefitting from this. ’90s country star Joe Nichols recently credited Top with helping revive his career.
“You know, it’s funny. I think the younger guys have helped me,” Nichols said earlier this month on the Drifting Cowboy podcast. “For me to break through with something traditional country would not be nearly as easy as it is for, like, a Zach Top, right, who’s doing some traditional country stuff. And in a weird way, it’s opened doors back up for me.”
Nichols released his latest song, “Goodbyes Are Hard to Listen To,” on Oct. 9.
Featured image by Danielle Del Valle/Getty Images
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