Breakthrough country artist Zach Top has just released a new Apple Music Nashville Sessions EP featuring Billy Strings. The three-track collection revisits two of Top’s originals and includes a cover of Ricky Skaggs’ “Don’t Cheat In Our Hometown”.
Top and Strings first crossed paths this summer at the Under The Big Sky Festival in Montana, where Strings invited Top to sit in on Keith Allison‘s “Freeborn Man”. The chemistry they found together live translated seamlessly into the studio, resulting in a recording that highlights their complementary talents. “We had a lot of fun, traded back and forth some playing,” Top shared. “It’s so fun to watch him play. And I feel like he’s known so much for a player that it gets passed over sometimes how freaking good of a singer he is too. It was a blast.”
The Nashville Sessions EP features reimagined arrangements of “Bad Luck” and “Things To Do”, two songs from Top’s acclaimed 2024 debut album Cold Beer & Country Music, along with their homage to Skaggs. The EP is available in Spatial Audio exclusively on Apple Music (but for those without access, the tracks are also embedded below via YouTube).
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This release on Apple Music is part of a broader partnership that includes Top’s recent cover of Elvis’ “Blue Christmas” for the platform’s holiday Carols Covered playlist. Selected as Apple Music’s Country Riser for November, Top is also featured in a long-form interview with Ward Guenther on Country Risers Radio.
Raised on classic country music on a farm in Sunnyside, Washington, Top developed his sound from a young age, playing in a family band with his siblings before joining bluegrass groups in his teens. After moving to Nashville in 2021, he quickly gained a following, earning respect as both a songwriter and a vocalist. His partnership with Billy Strings on the new EP speaks to the traditional yet innovative spirit that defines his career.
Listen to the full EP below.
The release caps off a milestone year for Top, who’s quickly risen as one of country music’s most promising new voices. Cold Beer & Country Music racked up over 3.5 million streams in its first week alone and drew critical praise for its traditional country roots. He also received his first CMA nomination for New Artist of the Year and was named Discovery Artist of the Year at the 2024 MusicRow Awards. The success of his debut led to his sold-out Cold Beer & Country Music headline tour, which will see Top performing two-night runs in venues like Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, and Denver’s Grizzly Rose, among others. In addition to headlining, Top has been on the road supporting Lainey Wilson and will open for country legend Alan Jackson on select dates in 2025.
Click below for a full list of tour dates, and head here to purchase resale tickets.
Billy Strings meanwhile is set to return to the stage for a special 50th anniversary taping of Austin City Limits featuring Leon Bridges, Gary Clark Jr., and many more on November 21st at The Moody Theatre in Austin, TX. Billy will close out 2024 with a December run that includes a three-night New Year’s Eve celebration at New Orleans’ UNO Lakefront Arena. His 2025 winter tour will kick off in January with three “360° shows” at Denver’s Ball Arena, followed by two weekends at Asheville’s ExploreAsheville.com Arena in February, a two-night stand in Atlanta, and a three-show homecoming in Nashville, finishing at the legendary Ryman Auditorium on March 2nd. For a full list of dates and tickets, head here.
Zach Top – “Bad Luck” (Ft. Billy Strings)
Zach Top – “Things To Do” (Ft. Billy Strings)
Zach Top – “Don’t Cheat In Our Hometown” (Ft. Billy Strings)
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