Holler Nashville Sessions Presented by George Dickel: Zach Top

Unless you've been living under a rock these past six months, you'll be aware of a certain new young buck on the block called Mr Zach Top.

Regularly christened the country artist's artist, Top has quickly established himself as not only a whip-smart and precocious songwriter but a born entertainer, taking crowds by the bootstraps and dancing them around the jukebox in every honky tonk he graces.

So, when it came to launching the Holler Nashville Sessions Presented by George Dickel, we couldn't think of many more suitable to invite than the neo-traditional prince of country from Washington state.

"We'll start with one of my favourites off the record I just released a couple of months ago" Top notions, opening up his first Holler session with his viral hit, 'I Never Lie'. "It's kinda sad, but pretty much mostly sarcastic the whole way through. I think that is indicative of my personality too".

It's certainly an evocative expression of not only Top's character, but his songwriting that we've grown to love since he first arrived on the scene. Heartfelt and aspirational yet still grounded and playful in tone, Top layers his jaunty, hook-filled country sound with the clever narrative wordplay of Whitley and Strait, introducing a brand new audience to a style of the genre that can never age.

It's a treat to hear such a bop like 'Sounds Like The Radio' in an acoustic setting. The song loses none of its mischief from being stripped back, Top ripping across his acoustic with bluesy licks as he croons like it's 1994 all over again.

Closing out with album favourite 'Dirt Turns To Gold', the song is a fine example of Top's storytelling ability, the emotional turn as he sings "She said I could get used to this light" enough to bring you to tears of joy.

There aren't many better out there right now than our favourite mustachio'd balladeer, and from the evidence of his Holler Nashville Session, he's gonna be hard to Top.

For more Zach Top, see below: