Two of the hottest bluegrass artists in the world right now, Zach Top, currently burning up the country charts with his debut album, Cold Beer & Country Music, and Billy Strings, the first bandleader who has figured out how to take acoustic bluegrass music to a mass audience, have teamed up for an EP under Zach’s name titled simply, Me & Billy.
What Billy has done needs no explanation to anyone who cares about bluegrass, but not everyone may recall how Zach blew everyone away during his time in bluegrass. A native of Washington state, he grew up in a bluegrass band with his siblings, and has been picking and singing since he was seven years old.
Zach was very impressive when his band, Modern Tradition, won the SPBGMA Band Championship in 2017, and he kept the band going, working the bluegrass circuit while also pursuing the far more lucrative country music market as a singer and songwriter.
As a solo act in bluegrass, he released an EP with RBR Entertainment in 2022, but continued working a day job until signing with the Leo33 label in Nashville in 2023. Zach used social media very effectively to build an online fan base, creating weekly videos of himself playing guitar and singing a collection of traditional country hits, as well as bluegrass songs and his own compositions.
Now he’s reached a pinnacle that allows him to collaborate with Billy Strings, and they’ve turned in a fine recording.
The EP incudes three tracks, two Top originals, and a duet version of The Stanley Brothers classic hit, Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown, which Ricky Skaggs took to #1 on the country charts in 1983. It is available for the first time today, and is definitely worthy of your attention.
What a treat to hear these two talented young men dust off one as deep in the weeds as Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown. Well done, fellas!
