“I Don’t Want To Be A Country Musician” – Zach Bryan On Why He Wants To Be Known As A “Songwriter”

Zach Bryan might be a country singer per se, but that doesn't mean he wants to be known as one. Earlier today, Rolling Stone released their sixth-annual Musicians on Musicians issue, which featured Zach Bryan talking to one of his musical inspirations: Bruce Springsteen. Their conversation was filmed back in April, around the time Springsteen surprised fans at Bryan’s Barclays Center show. One of the quotes from the pair of accomplished artists that has gotten a lot of attention is something that Zach Bryan asserted, saying though he's considered one of the brightest country stars on the planet, he doesn't necessarily desire to be a part of the country genre. Bryan instead wants to be known as something else. The "Something In The Orange" singer wandered into the thought by pointing out that any Springsteen song - if it were to be produced differently - could be a country song. At the basis of things, "The Boss" is a great songwriter, and that's what Zach wants to be known as: "I don't want to be a country musician. Everyone calls me it. I want to be a songwriter, and you're quintessentially a songwriter. No one calls Bruce Springsteen - I hate to use your name in front of you - but no one calls Bruce Springsteen a freaking rock musician. Which, you are one, but you're also an indie musician, you're also a country musician. You're all these things encapsulated in one man. And that's what songwriting is." Springsteen found that revelation fascinating, but understood where the young country star was coming from. And to be fair, it's not an uncommon sentiment among musicians. Some artists don't necessarily like to be confined to the walls of a particular genre, regardless of how heavily their music falls into any particular category. And Bryan continued on by saying that his inspiration to be known as a songwriter has a lot to do with how Bruce Springsteen has handled his career: "When I first started making music .... I was like, 'I want to be in a lane where, when people look back, they can listen to my music and it's supremely whatever you were doing.' You were the only person in my head that has ever done that." All in all, it's a really cool conversation to be able to listen in on. You can hear more from Bryan and Bruce (wanted to go for a little alliteration there) in the Rolling Stone interview below: https://youtu.be/G-_spo9cKhY?si=dKbQwmBTw4Zl_M2h&t=936