Will Zach Bryan Really Stop Touring?

Ever since he exploded onto the scene with a grainy, lo-fi YouTube video of ’Heading South’ in 2019, Zach Bryan has become notorious for being somewhat of a tease.

Whether it's one of his surprise post-album EP drops, an unexpected Christmas Day live album or a sudden tour announcement, Zach Bryan likes to keep his fans guessing.

One of his most repeated claims is that, following his current run of shows, he will stay true to the name of the tour and call it quits. The last line of his Spotify bio - which was supposedly uploaded by Zach himself - reads: “He is currently on his last tour ever, the Quittin’ Time tour”.

Zach Bryan has been offering attendees at his 2024 shows the opportunity to download live recordings of his sets, potentially as a keepsake for when he's no longer performing.

The final stop on Zach Bryan's Quittin’ Time tour is lined up for December 19th in Brooklyn, New York. Zach has three more dates on the books after this; his headlining set at Stagecoach 2025 in April, and two headline shows in Hyde Park in London, UK in June. That currently looks to be his only shows of the year.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), following the Stagecoach 2025 announcement, Zach outlined that he “didn’t plan on playing next year but this was confirmed a very long time ago”.

While the ‘Something in the Orange’ singer-songwriter's loyal fanbase is undoubtedly and understandably concerned at the prospect of a Zach-less summer next year, the wording of his Stagecoach post makes us think there may be a silver lining.

His suggestion that he wasn't intending on playing any shows “next year” surely implies he will just be taking a year off from performing, rather than this tour being his final run ever.

On November 7, 2024, following the sudden surprise release of new song ‘This World’s A Giant’, Bryan released a statement across his social media channels, detailing a conversation he had with his deceased mother “a few days back” upon visiting her gravestone. Within the statement, Bryan details how he told her “I quit touring because I got accepted to get my masters in Paris next year”.

This revelation was not only the most direct and definitive Bryan has been about quitting the live circuit, but gave a reason as to why he may have even considered doing so in the first place.

Perhaps he simply intends on taking a year out - we don’t know whether his Masters course will last one year or two, and there’s every possibility he’ll return to shows once having completed his further education.

There's also the possibility Bryan will take a leaf out of George Strait's book and announce that he's no longer going to go on tour, before then booking a series of ‘unconnected’ shows in a row that, in reality, feel an awful lot like they're part of a tour.

As spectacular as Stagecoach is, it certainly feels as though it would be a tad anti-climactic - especially given Zach's famously rebellious, man-of-the-people reputation - to deliver one of his last ever live performances at a Polo Club out in California.

There's also the consideration of new music, which usually goes hand in hand with a tour. Zach recently confirmed he has one more album on his deal with Warner, which he'll be recording in 2025. He teased that this may well be an entirely acoustic project.

If this is not only his last album with Warner, but his final album full-stop, then the prospect of the Quittin’ Time tour being his swan-song becomes alarmingly more probable. On a number of occasions via X, Zach Bryan has romanticised the idea of packing it all in and becoming one of the blue-collar workers he so often writes about.

Zach Bryan has always championed authenticity and sincerity above all else, and has never cared for the glitz and glamour that has accompanied his ascent into one of the biggest artists across all genres. Given the fact that he is on top of the world in terms of his status, Zach leaving music would be a seismic event that would feel distinctly reminiscent of Garth Brooks’ 2000 decision to retire and build his family.

The waters are still murky, but the key dates following his statement on November 7th, will seemingly be his December 18th and 19th double-header in Brooklyn - a city that unquestionably means a lot to him, and that he prominently references on his latest album, The Great American Bar Scene.

We imagine he'll offer further clarification on whether this is indeed his final tour in the lead-up to those shows, with Zach then likely taking a break from performing live in 2025, aside from his Stagecoach set and Hyde Park Headline shows.

So it looks as though we'll be seeing a lot less of Zach Bryan next year, but then, once he's released his final album with Warner, we suspect he'll continue recording as an independent artist. Then, even if he doesn't deliver any more full-blown ‘tours’ per se - potentially as a way of continuing his longstanding fight against Ticketmaster - we simply can't see a scenario where Zach plays no live shows whatsoever.

We don't think this truly will be his last tour ever - and given how electrifying his performances have been throughout 2024, we sure hope it isn't ‘Quittin’ Time’ just yet.

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Featured photo by Laura Ord