Zach Bryan, Edinburgh review: 'cross-cultural connection'
The Oklahoman looked right at home in front of a euphoric Murrayfield crowd, writes David Pollock
Zach Bryan, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh ★★★★
“I heard Scotland won last night,” said Zach Bryan, the 30-year-old country music prodigy from Oklahoma whose music has cut through in a big way of late, particularly, in the UK, where this year’s sixth album, With Heaven on Top, hit number three in the charts. Among the crowd at Murrayfield on Sunday the World Cup celebrations seemed to still be ongoing - a joyful mood which he picked up on.
“Usually we have people pass out when we've been playing in a hundred degrees,” smiled the fresh-faced young guy with a military crop-and-fade haircut (he was in the US Navy before he was a singer) as he requested help for a front row fainter. “You're probably all still hungover after Scotland won.”
His set was a bittersweet but often euphoric delight. Bryan played guitar, flanked by horn and string sections who performed informal line dances when they weren’t playing. His band included a great pedal steel guitarist and a bagpipe player, and most were wearing kilts and Scotland strips for the occasion, having been dressed by “two nice Scottish ladies”.
That young, Stetson-wearing Scotland adores his music is no surprise, and it’s not just down to the Highland-rooted Appalachian style. Like a younger Bruce Springsteen or a transatlantic Sam Fender, Bryan writes big, soulful rockers like Overtime, Open the Gate and a very pleasing new song called You’ll Get By - tunes which celebrate good times as an antidote to hard times.
Rich with a sense of real Americana, blessed with mighty singalong choruses and unflinching honesty, his songs reference hard drinking (Appetite, Oklahoma Smokeshow), the hard post-military life (American Nights, East Side of Sorrow) and smalltown rustbelt existence (Quittin’ Time and the energising Burn Burn Burn).
A real moment of cross-cultural connection came with Heading South, as Bryan invited young Glasgow songwriter Andrew Wilson to sing it (which he did, powerfully) after the latter persuaded him via social media. In Bryan’s case, it’s difficult to recall a musician and his crowd connecting so deeply and on such a grand scale, despite their very different backgrounds.
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