Nation music reigned on the Ryman Auditorium on Friday night time (Feb. 28), as Zach High stepped onto the revered stage for the primary of two headlining exhibits at nation music’s historic Mom Church. The exhibits come as a part of his Chilly Beer and Nation Music Tour, which bought out simply hours after the trek went on sale.
Washington native High’s model of tunes — steeped within the affect of ‘80s and ‘90s nation music, together with bluegrass — has swiftly pushed him to the forefront of a brand new technology of neo-traditional artists who’re seeing their careers ascend.
Opening the present was Texas native and George Jones acolyte Jake Worthington, who advised the group, “You’re getting a complete bunch of nation music tonight.”
Worthington and High made good on that promise, proving themselves as worthy musical torchbearers for followers starved for sounds impressed by ‘80s and ‘90s nation.
All through the night, each musicians provided a heady mix of their very own music, combined with a plethora of covers of hits from Jones, Keith Whitley, Merle Haggard, George Strait, Randy Travis and Sammy Kershaw.
Worthington launched into his set with a charismatic onstage persona and deep twang on “Night time Time Is My Time,” then previewed a track that can function Marty Stuart referred to as “I’m The One.” His ace band included Gordon Mote on piano.
He additionally provided up a solo model of his Miranda Lambert collaboration, “Hiya Shitty Day,” earlier than nodding to the affect of Nation Music Corridor of Famer George Jones by providing up spot-on renditions of Jones classics “The Grand Tour” and getting the viewers grooving to the rollicking “White Lightnin’.” He completed together with his personal “The State You Left Me In,” eliciting cheers from the viewers.
“This track acquired me a whole lot of alternatives,” Worthington stated.
A neon-lit jukebox was located in conjunction with the stage, taking part in snippets of nation classics as High took the stage to fervent cheers from the viewers. The gang was immediately on its toes — and stayed on its toes for the remainder of the present.
High, who was highlighted in Billboard’s “Way forward for Nation Music” highlight earlier this 12 months, spent his two-hour set mixing top-shelf vocals, ace guitar choosing, energetic performances and a devotion to old-school nation music to show why he’s main at the moment’s crop of future nation superstars.
He kicked off his set together with his Nation Airplay high 15 hit “Sounds Just like the Radio,” from his debut nation mission Chilly Beer and Nation Music, earlier than nodding to his bluegrass roots with “I Don’t Thoughts,” from his 2022 self-titled bluegrass mission.
High had a laid-back, easygoing camaraderie with the group, cracking jokes between songs and regaling them with songs from Chilly Beer and Nation Music.
“I’m grateful that y’all have come out to make us really feel welcome. We respect it. I’ll want one in all these for the following track,” he quipped, opening up a beer earlier than launching into “Beer for Breakfast.” He adopted with “Filth Turns to Gold” and a very well-received rendition of “Lonely for Lengthy,” adopted by “There’s the Solar.”
Like Worthington, he peppered his set with completely chosen cowl songs, highlighting his love for nation’s deep canon of hits, together with Strait’s “Love Bug,” Haggard’s “Ramblin’ Fever” and Travis’ “If I Didn’t Have You.” In his signature starched shirt and cowboy hat, grinning beneath his signature mustache, High additionally slyly nodded to these Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck comparisons in a canopy of Kershaw’s “Cadillac Model.”
High has earned the reward of a lot of his nation contemporaries and has amassed 6 million month-to-month followers on Spotify alone. His Chilly Beer and Nation Music Tour is ready to headline the 7,000-capacity Appalachian Wi-fi Enviornment in Kentucky in Could. He’s additionally been on the highway opening exhibits for Alan Jackson and can open exhibits for Dierks Bentley this 12 months.
Judging from the fan reactions at nation music’s Mom Church, which served as house of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974, it looks as if nation music is in good arms and that High is on a direct trajectory to headlining his personal slate of area exhibits within the very close to future — and being the tip of the spear of a crop of recent artists bringing basic nation music again into prominence.
Right here, we have a look at 5 high moments from High’s Ryman present:
-
High Closes Out His Present With a Hit and a Mission
As High’s set drew to a detailed, he provided up his viral Nation Airplay High 15 hit “I By no means Lie.” Followers sang that memorable refrain on the high of their lungs, and he adopted by providing his album title monitor, which serves as his mission assertion, a nod to his basic type and a tribute to 2 basic bedfellows, “Chilly Beer and Nation Music.” Because the present closed, followers stayed behind of their seats, hoping for an encore till the home lights got here up.
-
High Nods to Keith Whitley’s Affect
Amongst his slate of well-chosen cowl songs that night, High nodded to his love of one other bluegrass-turned-country singer, the late Nation Music Corridor of Famer Keith Whitley, with a stellar, reverent model of Whitley’s “Kentucky Bluebird,” which was the title monitor to the 1991 posthumous Whitley album.
-
From “Brick Home” to Bluegrass
Most fashionable nation music exhibits have at the least one second — if not a number of — when the headliner nods to their love of rap, hip-hop or rock. The only real second of that got here when High’s band member Jimmy provided up a snippet of the Commodores’ 1977 hit “Brick Home,” with High laughing and shortly saying, “Sorry if that felt a bit sacrilegious within the Mom Church.”
From there, the band veered into highlighting High’s bluegrass roots — or as he put it jokingly, “From ‘Brick Home’ to bluegrass, that’s how Invoice Monroe supposed it.” High grew up taking part in bluegrass in a household band, then was a part of one other bluegrass band that garnered consideration from the Worldwide Bluegrass Music Affiliation, earlier than he launched his solo bluegrass mission in 2022. He nodded to these roots by placing his stellar guitar choosing expertise on show — together with the musicianship of his band — performing “In a World Gone Unsuitable,” adopted by a solo model of his the Ricky Skaggs basic “Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown.” High recorded that track as a collab with Billy Strings, who was taking part in his personal headlining present that very same night time throughout the road on the Bridgestone Enviornment. Sadly, there was no shock look from Strings, however High proved he can greater than maintain his personal on the Skaggs basic.
-
High’s “Cheatin’ Track” Will get a Fervent Response
At one level within the present, High famous it was time for “a cheatin’ track” within the set, launching into his personal “Use Me.” The monitor has lengthy resonated with followers on social media and streaming, reaching the highest 40 on the Scorching Nation Songs chart. Followers definitely responded on the Ryman.
Every time High sang the road “Inform me you like me and inform me you want me,” screams from feminine attendees erupted all through the two,300-seat Mom Church, with High glancing towards the balcony with a slight, humored grin now and again.
-
High & Worthington Ship a Musical Warning Shot
If the mix of High and Worthington on this tour didn’t already ship a significant sign that conventional nation sounds are making a comeback, then the 2 singers gave a really direct message to Nashville, teaming up on the Ryman stage — the identical stage so a lot of their nation music heroes have carried out on — the place they made their allegiance to nation music abundantly clear with a potent collaboration.
To cheers of “’90s Nation!” from the viewers, the sometimes jovial High did make a press release about how at occasions, “Nashville normally has an actual good knack for ruining nation music,” and welcomed Worthington to affix him on a rendition of the George Strait/Alan Jackson hit “Homicide on Music Row,” which had the group shouting, lifting up their beer cans and cheering reward for the basic nation music that rang by the rafters of the Ryman that night.
