Zach Top isn’t trying to resurrect ’90s country—he’s just too good at sounding like it. Fans might swear he’s time-warped from the era of neon lights and big hats, but the Washington-born singer shrugs it off. He’s not chasing nostalgia; he’s chasing the ghosts of his musical idols—Keith Whitley, Alan Jackson (who he’s currently touring with), and a few other legends who shaped his twangy soul. Whitley, in particular, holds the top spot in his heart, a fact he’s admitted more times than you can count on a jukebox.
So when Top hit the stage at last year’s tribute concert for Dean Dillon—Country Music Hall of Famer and songwriting titan behind George Strait’s classics and Waylon Jennings’ bangers—it felt like fate. Dillon, the genius who penned Whitley’s ’80s smash “Miami, My Amy,” got the full Zach Top treatment. Covering that track, Top didn’t just sing—he slung it out of the stratosphere. The crowd? Floored. Check the clip below and try not to feel the chills.
@musicmayhemmagazine.com @Zach Top covering @Keith Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy” at Songs and Stories of Dean Dillon in Alabama. #ZachTop #KeithWhitley #DeanDillon #tribute #countrymusic #countrysinger #country #countryboy #zachtopmusic #zachtopconcert #deandillontribute #keithwhitleycover #coversong #cover #countrycover #countrysong #deandillonsongs #miamimyamy
In a recent Billboard sit-down, Top spilled the beans on how he stumbled into his old-school sound. Spoiler: It’s less “master plan” and more “meant to be.” Enter Carson Chamberlain, the Nashville wizard who dragged Top from obscurity and into the spotlight. Chamberlain’s resume reads like Top’s playlist—credits with Whitley, Jackson, and more. He didn’t just open doors; he threw Top into rooms with the very songwriters who penned the hits that raised him. “Guys that wrote the songs I grew up on,” Top grinned, “the ones that made me fall for country music.”
And what’s his recipe for a killer country tune? “Three chords and the truth,” he says, like it’s gospel. “Fiddle and steel guitar? Sure, they don’t hurt.” But the real magic, he insists, is in the connection—songs with a story that hit you square in the chest. “It’s about feeling understood,” he told Billboard, “no matter where life’s got you.”
With a voice that could’ve ruled the ’90s and a heart wired to the genre’s golden age, Zach Top isn’t just following footsteps—he’s kicking up dust and making his own trail. Whitley’s probably smiling somewhere.
