Zach Person

One Liner: Blue rock goodness in the vein of Gary Clark Jr.

Wikipedia Genre:  No Wikipedia, Blues rock
Home: Austin!

Poster Position: Late Addition
Day: Sunday at noon on the BMI Stage
Weekend Two Only.

Thoughts:  Cool stuff - this guy is legit.  Getting a Gary Clark Jr. vibe from this - bluesy rock stuff.  It's not the same at all, he uses drum machines on some of these tracks, and his guitarwork isn't nearly as volcanic, but its in that same wheelhouse.  

He was on American Idol in 2016, and even played Gary Clark Jr. for his audition tune.  He made it to the top 50 on the season, and then got cut.  From one article I read, it sounds like he used to play as a three piece, but during the pandemic slimmed down to just him and his drummer.  He says he grew up in North Carolina, then in Houston.  He claims inspiration from John Mayer as well, which I can see.  Kinda bluesy but also rock-based and catchy.  In that American Idol video, he can jam on the acoustic, and has a lot of confidence.  Three yeses from the judges - pretty damn good.

HIs top track is "Can't Stop Running," with 73k streams.  His eyes are freaking me out.

That video is awesomely bad.  Like, made for $300 in a friend's art studio in 30 minutes bad.  But I still love it.  And a good tune - got some guitar fireworks and a catchy jam.

One album - 2021's Zach Person.  On the cover, he's in a swanky bathtub with a tumbler of drink in his hand, looking all sort of relaxed and nonchalant.  All ten of his top tracks are from that album, but he's not getting just a ton of streams - most of his tunes have less than ten thousand.  Which is a shame - I think this is very enjoyable.  His second most streamed is "Send Me Away," with 17k streams.

Huh - I had no clue that those drum sounds were being played by a live human.  Thought that was just a drum track when I listened before.  But another rock tune steeped in the blues and dripping with a slinky soul.  Dig it.  That guitar solo is tight.

Unfortunately, he's at noon on Sunday.  Maybe we'll get up there in time to see him, but that seems like too early for Sunday.  We'll see - I definitely think he's worth checking out if you are going to be there.