Zach Top Says He Has “A Lot Of Respect” For Morgan Wallen Despite Differing Styles – “It’s Not My Cup Of Tea Musically”

With his sophomore album, Ain’t In It For My Health, coming out in just THREE days, buzz surrounding Zach Top is arguably at an all-time high. That buzz, of course, is for good reason. Beyond being one of the best guitarists in the genre right now, the Washington native has proven himself to be an underrated songwriter, a silky smooth vocalist and an all-around charmer both on-stage and in interviews.

Couple that with an ACM Award win for New Male Artist, a MusicRow Award win for Discovery Artist of the Year and a fanbase that seemingly grows stronger by the day, and the “Use Me” singer has cemented himself as one of the fastest-rising country stars we’ve seen in recent memory.

Upon Ain’t In It For My Health’s imminent release this week, Top sat down with The New York Times to discuss everything from the new record, his roots in bluegrass, recording his debut album with legends such as Brent Mason, his ’90s influences and even Morgan Wallen.

One topic that has undeniably dominated the discourse surrounding Top as an artist over the past year is his sound and style. Clearly harkening back to ’80s and ’90s legends such as Alan Jackson, Keith Whitley, Clint Black, George Strait and more, he’s often caught flak from critics due to sounding “too derivative” to some. Though I’d argue there’s a clear difference between being influenced by a certain style or era and directly ripping something off, these arguments have persisted.

For Top, the ’90s influence and subsequent title of “savior of traditional country” was never a decision he consciously made (or wanted). In the interview, he noted that his influences stretch way back to the likes of ’60s giants such as Merle Haggard and George Jones and even older legends such as Hank Sr. and Lefty Frizzell:

“There was never any calculated decision to be like, Hey, you know what? It’s the ’90s thing. It’s just, when I write and sing and play, this is what comes out of me. I’m obviously very heavily influenced by that stuff, but in all my time being a student of the music and digging back, I went way further back from the ’90s, you know. It was Merle, George Jones, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, back to the ’40s and ’50s.”

Another talking point that has appeared throughout Top’s rise to fame is the stark contrast between his sound and other modern stars who are dominating the charts, such as Morgan Wallen. There’s absolutely no denying that Top and Wallen exist on two opposite ends of the spectrum of country music (if you can even call a bulk of Wallen’s recent releases “country”).

With that being said, it’s becoming common to pit traditionalists like Top, Jake Worthington, Cody Johnson and more up against the pop-influenced stars like Wallen. Though the argument itself feels like beating a dead horse at this point, given that the “Last Night” singer has so rigidly stuck to his admittedly effective formula of blending pop and trap elements into his music, it hasn’t stopped many from continuously highlighting the major differences between styles.

On the topic of Wallen, the “I Never Lie” singer noted that he has a lot of respect for him despite the Tennessee native’s music not being quite for him:

“I got a lot of respect for what Morgan Wallen does. It’s not my cup of tea musically, obviously, but it’s him. I can’t sing ‘Whiskey Glasses’ and have a hit on it. It’s not me.”

It’s pretty refreshing to see Top be honest and realistic about his thoughts on Wallen here. I don’t think it’s a shock to hear that he’s not the biggest fan of his style, given how traditional he is, but as many have said in the past, you have to respect the unworldly success he’s experienced the last five or so years. It’s nice to see someone like Top be respectful to someone else’s craft even if they don’t personally like the songs themselves, especially in an era that has seen an increasing amount of senseless beef between artists (I’m looking at you, Gavin Adcock).