Country music is still alive and well, thanks in part to Scotty McCreery and Zach Top. The two performed a cover of Tracy Byrd’s 1994 hit, “Watermelon Crawl,” after Top opened for McCreery at the Edgar County Fair in Illinois.
A fan captured the collaboration and shared a clip on social media.
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Both McCreery and Top have songs on the charts right now. McCreery’s “Fall of Summer,” the second single from his latest Rise and Fall album, is currently at No. 45 on the charts. Meanwhile, Top’s debut single, “Sounds Like the Radio,” from his freshman Cold Beer & Country Music album, is at No. 23, and climbing.
Top wrote the song with Carson Chamberlain and Wyatt McCubbin.
“Literally the day we wrote it, it was like that was meant to be my first single,” Top tells Billboard. “It seems like an awesome introduction to me and the type of music that people are going to be getting from me. If you like it, great. If not, don’t expect nothing different.”
“Fall of Summer” follows McCreery’s sixth No. 1 hit, with “Cab In A Solo.” It was “Fall of Summer” that inspired McCreery to name his album Rise and Fall.
“Every album until this one, I’ve just picked a song title that I thought represented kind of where we’re at or the lead single,” McCreery said at a recent media event celebrating the release of Rise and Fall. “But this one, something felt different, and I didn’t think there was a song title that totally captured the feeling that I had for the whole project. And I’m old school; I know it’s a single-driven world nowadays, but I want my album to tell a story, start to finish.
“I want it to be a cohesive unit,” he added. “And I didn’t feel like there was one title that did that. So I was just listening down to the songs, probably on a plane to California or something. I was listening to ‘Fall of Summer’ and I heard, ‘Here’s to the rise and fall of summer,’ and I thought, ‘Rise and Fall.’”
The new Grand Ole Opry member has had plenty of highs and lows, but is now more eager than ever about his future, and his place in country music.
“I feel much more like an old man than I do that kid nowadays,” McCreery tells American Songwriter. “I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and I didn’t know what the world had in store for me. At this point in my career, I’ve seen just about everything. You can easily get jaded, but for me, it’s like, ‘Now, I know what to expect.’ And it still excites me.”
Top’s “Sounds Like the Radio” and all of his music and tour dates are available at ZachTop.com. All of McCreery’s music and upcoming shows can be found at ScottyMcCreery.com.
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