Cold Beer & the King of Country Music

"That’s what good music does, it puts into words and melodies what people maybe can’t say on their own. But, when they hear the right song, they feel understood. I think that’s really important."

(Zach Top / americansongwriter.com, April 5, 2024)

On the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) charts of April 19, 2024, newcomer Dasha sits at number 36 with her viral hit 'Austin' with over 113 mio. Spotify streams after just 4 weeks. Just 2 notches behind her is Beyoncé with 302 mio. streams and her first single 'Texas Hold 'Em' from her country album "Cowboy Carter". Both songs share a close similarity in melody, voice and production.

However, the song, which ranks between them at number 37 proves that country music still has a traditional element in its now so wide spectrum. It's titled 'Sounds Like The Radio' and it is the first single from 26-year old newcomer Zach Top's album "Cold Beer & Country Music".

His idol from early childhood was George Strait. But his first steps into music lead him to form a bluegrass band with his siblings. In an interview with countrynow.com he described how it didn't come to this entirely planned: "I started taking guitar lessons when I was five and the teacher that we happened to find was big into the bluegrass world. So I just wanted to learn George Strait songs, but she got us pointed in the bluegrass direction."

His first album by the same name, which was released in 2022, was clearly influenced by bluegrass. But as he pointed out in an interview with billboard.com: "I love bluegrass music so much and had a ball touring with bands. I’ll probably do more of that as my career goes on. But my heart has always been in country. My goal has always been to play the kind of country music that made me fall in love with the format — fiddles, steel guitars and telecasters twanging." 

And this traditional sound, which many people spontaneously reference to the 1990s, also characterizes his current album. And the title of the project ("Cold Beer & Country Music") tells you right away, what it is all about. "I just feel like I grew up living and breathing this music and specifically what I fell in love with was old-school stuff – George Strait and Alan Jackson and Keith Whitley, all that kind of good stuff."

In the lyrics of 'Sounds Like The Radio', he rightfully sings about him sounding like he had already been a hit on country radio in 1994. And on top of the unmistakeable sound and catchy melody, the song also scores with humor, completing a well rounded Country Top-40 hit:

Well the day I was born the doc couldn't believe

I came out cryin' Chattahoochee [the Alan Jackson hit song].

Didn't take too long after that

before the hair on my head to grow long in the back [just like that of Alan Jackson].

(Sounds Like The Radio / Carson Chamberlain, Wyatt McCubbin, Zach Top)

A few years older, born and raised in Nashville, is Ryan Larkins. He also found his way into the traditional country format through another style of music. "My dad was a Pentecostal preacher growing up. As close as I was to country music, I had no clue about the genre. I was raised on Southern gospel music, just singing in church", he describes his musical beginnings for countrynow.com.

After taking part in the Nashville casting show Can You Duet in 2009, he began writing his own songs and working on his own music. But it wasn't until 2023 that people really started noticing him. At that time he signed a record deal with Red Street Records. A small label owned by Jay DeMarcus, bass player (and by now also producer) of former trio Rascal Flatts. Around the same time, Cody Johnson recorded the song 'The Painter' for his current album "Leather", on which Ryan Larkins was one of the songwriters. At the beginning of 2024, 'The Painter' also became Ryan Larkins' first number 1 hit (as a songwriter).

The EP "Meet Ryan Larkins" was released in October 2023 with 5 songs on Red Street Records. It was co-produced by Jay DeMarcus and includes 'King of Country Music' as it's first single, which currently sits at number 58 on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart.

The idea for the song goes back to sometime in 2018 when his eldest son asked, who the king of country music was? But Ryan Larkins couldn't think of an answer until later. "I was sitting at a red light on Charlotte Avenue", he told billboard.com. "And it just kind of hit me out of nowhere, like: I know exactly who the king of country music is [it is the song]!"

Together with JR McCoy and Will Duvall he began to turn the idea into a song. "I love classic country", he emphasizes. "But we talked about it, and we thought, 'OK, there are quite a few people who are not even going to know those names' which is a shame. But to drive that point home, I thought we needed to stick with recognizable names."

Some say [George] Jones, some say [Randy] Travis,

Some say [George] Strait some say [Merle] Haggard

are sitting on the throne.

All that’s well and good, don’t get me wrong.

But the king of country music is the song.

(King Of Country Music / J.R. McCoy, Will Duvall, Ryan Larkins)

The result is a catchy ballad in a traditional style, the highlight of which is Ryan Larkins' calm baritone voice. And which comes full circle with the starring of his eldest son Whitman (as the actual catalyst for the song) in the video for the single. Ultimately, this makes 'King of Country Music' a song that might as well have been included on Zach Top's album "Cold Beer & Country Music".