Zach Bryan Releases Official ‘Nine Ball’ Music Video, Starring Matthew McConaughey and Tye Sheridan

Zach Bryan has released the highly anticipated official music video for ‘Nine Ball’, starring two Texan Hollywood heavyweights, Matthew McConaughey and Tye Sheridan.

The ‘Something in the Orange’ hitmaker has been teasing the visuals for a number of weeks now, with Zach having recorded the video ahead of his secret show in Sagebrush, Austin in January.

In the newly unveiled music video, Matthew McConaughey plays the gambling father that drives the narrative of Bryan's song, with McConaughey stumbling through a dimly lit dive bar with a whiskey in his hand, as he uses his son to win money from the locals.

The cleverly constructed video begins with Matthew McConaughey sliding a note across to a man sat at the bar, before the man proceeds to play his son at a game of pool.

McConaughey looks on proudly as the son beats everyone that crosses his path. The video then skips a few years, with Tye Sheridan acting as the grown-up version of the boy.

However, McConaughey's reckless, carefree behaviour catches up to him in the final match we see. Once Sheridan has completed his last shot, it becomes clear his father has lost his bet.

As a result, the original man we met at the bar gangs up on McConaughey with a group of his friends, looking for money they know he doesn't have, which starts a bar brawl.

The clip ends with Tye Sheridan carrying a bloodied and bruised Matthew McConaughey out of the bar, but in a poetic flourish, when they emerge on the other side of the door, time has dramatically rewound. Now, McConaughey - still injured, but seemingly from an older fight - is carrying his little boy on his shoulder.

The visuals are tainted by a sense of melancholy, as the cyclical nature of the situation is made apparent in the final frame. It suggests the father, as per the lyrics of ’Nine Ball’, will continue using his son to gain money from the bar folks, regardless of the consequences.

‘Nine Ball’ was one of the many highlights from Zach's acclaimed 2023 Boys Of Faith EP, which he dropped in September, and also featured stellar duets with Bon Iver and Noah Kahan.

Zach Bryan's ‘Nine Ball’ video arrives a day after the Oklahoma artist took home his first ever Grammy for Best Country Duo / Group Performance, which he received alongside Kacey Musgraves in honour of their Hot 100 No. 1, ‘I Remember Everything’.

For the full lyrics to Zach Bryan's ‘Nine Ball’, see below:

“I don't wanna bet but my father wrote a check
That I bet his ass could never cash
He's betting on the eight ball landing in the side wall
Cold blooded killer if you ask
But every night he needs me to land himself a red three
Corner pocket at 12am
Only twelve years old but I got a hold of a pole stick
I was gifted from him

My father is a betting man
But I got myself a steady hand
He's sitting in the corner with a six pack of Corona
Betting that his son'll win again

Go bet another six pack
Bet I make comeback
I know that this table's got a lean
Won't you take me fishing? And I wanna try out
For the seventh grade football team
You'll probably be nothing but the town's old drunkard
And die on a smoke stained stool
Right now he's got a bargain that he's taken too far
On his boys game of nine-ball pool

My father was a betting man
But I got myself a steady hand
He's sitting in the corner with a six pack of Corona
Betting that his son'll win again
My father was a betting man

My father was a betting man
But I got myself a steady hand
He's sitting in the corner with a six pack of Corona
Betting that his son'll win again

I don't wanna bet but my daddy wrote a check
That I bet his ass could never cash
He's betting on the eight ball landing in the side wall
Cold-blooded killer if you ask”

For more on Zach Bryan, see below:

Featured photo by Laura Ord