The C2C Sit Down with Zach John King
Pairing the reflective insight of a roots poet with the edgy intensity of raw alt-rock, Sony Music Nashville artist Zach John King is pushing country in a brand new (yet-strangely-familiar) direction – straight toward the truth, no matter where it leads. Raised in Fayetteville, Georgia and a lyricist first (with multiple generations of poets in the family), the rising star grew up old school but dreaming of escape. A fan of everything from George Jones and Otis Redding to The Police, Third Eye Blind, Switchfoot, and Biz Markie, King fronted an indie-rock band through college before making the move to Nashville in 2021, inspired to explore his country roots as the mainstream genre expands. Of the back of his latest release “Cold Shoulder” Zach headed to play shows in Europe at this year’s C2C: Country to Country festival, where after catching him play at the German event in Berlin, we spent some time chatting with him during the festival in London.
Thank you for taking time to chat with us nice and early.
“Thank you for being here.”
No worries at all, I saw you walking around last weekend because we were in Berlin too where it was a lot warmer than it is here now.
“Yeah, it felt pretty amazing.”
Have you been over to Europe before?
“No first time completely.”
What are your first impressions overall?
“I love it, I think it's fun to experience but it's funny to have something familiar like I’m playing country music just like back home, except I'm in new places with new audiences, new foods and new languages. It's been really exciting to learn the different crowds, honestly. Everybody is a little different.”
Yeah, I see a difference, the Germans like to clap and they clap perfectly in time, the Brits are not as well trained where you may get them doing it on one and four maybe so is more the sort of clap that you need penicillin for ha-ha. In terms of playing in Europe, you had probably heard a few things before you got here about how the audiences are more attentive, they just look at you with their eyes completed focused on you and people will come and talk to you about a song which you haven’t even put in your set for four or five years.
“One hundred percent, that happened to me in Berlin. Somebody requested like the lowest streaming song that I have, literally I don’t play it, nobody knows that it is out and this guy was like hey, can you play “What Did We Have” so I’m like absolutely. That is so cool that somebody dove so deep into my discography before they really even knew who I was.”
From an artist standpoint, this is effectively a showcase festival, where you are doing thirty-minute sets but you get multiple opportunities to play and you can try out a new song, something you maybe haven't played before and basically get a free road test when a lot of people would likely not know too much about your music.
“Absolutely, I mean to be just acoustic and it's kind of all thirty minutes, like even in Berlin it was thirty. I think I've dialled in the most engaging set, but it took me probably four or five shows to kind of get it right because it's hit or miss. Some nights a certain song that I thought was going to work, didn't work and then, you know, I tailored it a little different to try to get the crowd engaged. Like you said, they listen really well but that doesn't always necessarily mean that they like what they're listening to, so you have to have to figure it out. I figured out that the German crowd likes really singy things, so melodies that are really easy to like sing back, they're really a fan of that and I tried to play more songs that have a little bit more singy melody to them instead of more words.”
Talking about music that people may have heard, “Cold Shoulder” is the most recent track that you have shared so just fill us in a little bit about who you wrote it with and where that song came from.
“I met my friend Zarni (Devette) in Nashville, she's an incredible writer and I wrote it with her and my friend Tom Whall at Zarni’s house. It was a day I wasn't feeling super good, I showed up a little late and I was kind of like not really wanting to be there but it had nothing to do with them, it was more that I just didn't feel good. I almost cancelled the write but there's a rule in town, that’s like never say no so, I showed up and we dove into this weird tuning, it's in open D and I started to kind of describe a story growing up where, I broke things off with a girl and I picked one of the coldest nights of the year in Georgia to do it where I felt terrible about it. But the picture of that night is like burned in my head and I wanted to write something where people could listen to the song and see that picture so I tried to make it as visual as possible which is kind of cool. That's one of the older songs I have recorded, like we wrote it, I think a year and a half ago.”
Thank you for taking time to chat with us nice and early.
“Thank you for being here.”
No worries at all, I saw you walking around last weekend because we were in Berlin too where it was a lot warmer than it is here now.
“Yeah, it felt pretty amazing.”
Have you been over to Europe before?
“No first time completely.”
What are your first impressions overall?
“I love it, I think it's fun to experience but it's funny to have something familiar like I’m playing country music just like back home, except I'm in new places with new audiences, new foods and new languages. It's been really exciting to learn the different crowds, honestly. Everybody is a little different.”
Yeah, I see a difference, the Germans like to clap and they clap perfectly in time, the Brits are not as well trained where you may get them doing it on one and four maybe so is more the sort of clap that you need penicillin for ha-ha. In terms of playing in Europe, you had probably heard a few things before you got here about how the audiences are more attentive, they just look at you with their eyes completed focused on you and people will come and talk to you about a song which you haven’t even put in your set for four or five years.
“One hundred percent, that happened to me in Berlin. Somebody requested like the lowest streaming song that I have, literally I don’t play it, nobody knows that it is out and this guy was like hey, can you play “What Did We Have” so I’m like absolutely. That is so cool that somebody dove so deep into my discography before they really even knew who I was.”
From an artist standpoint, this is effectively a showcase festival, where you are doing thirty-minute sets but you get multiple opportunities to play and you can try out a new song, something you maybe haven't played before and basically get a free road test when a lot of people would likely not know too much about your music.
“Absolutely, I mean to be just acoustic and it's kind of all thirty minutes, like even in Berlin it was thirty. I think I've dialled in the most engaging set, but it took me probably four or five shows to kind of get it right because it's hit or miss. Some nights a certain song that I thought was going to work, didn't work and then, you know, I tailored it a little different to try to get the crowd engaged. Like you said, they listen really well but that doesn't always necessarily mean that they like what they're listening to, so you have to have to figure it out. I figured out that the German crowd likes really singy things, so melodies that are really easy to like sing back, they're really a fan of that and I tried to play more songs that have a little bit more singy melody to them instead of more words.”
Talking about music that people may have heard, “Cold Shoulder” is the most recent track that you have shared so just fill us in a little bit about who you wrote it with and where that song came from.
“I met my friend Zarni (Devette) in Nashville, she's an incredible writer and I wrote it with her and my friend Tom Whall at Zarni’s house. It was a day I wasn't feeling super good, I showed up a little late and I was kind of like not really wanting to be there but it had nothing to do with them, it was more that I just didn't feel good. I almost cancelled the write but there's a rule in town, that’s like never say no so, I showed up and we dove into this weird tuning, it's in open D and I started to kind of describe a story growing up where, I broke things off with a girl and I picked one of the coldest nights of the year in Georgia to do it where I felt terrible about it. But the picture of that night is like burned in my head and I wanted to write something where people could listen to the song and see that picture so I tried to make it as visual as possible which is kind of cool. That's one of the older songs I have recorded, like we wrote it, I think a year and a half ago.”
GA is your neck of the woods but you’re in Nashville now, how long have you been living in town?
“Three years man, it’s crazy.”
You’ve probably seen it change a lot in just the three years you have been there.
“It’s wild, the bar that I met everybody at is gone, in three years I went from knowing where everything was to it being completely changed.”
I haven’t been out there since the pandemic, 2019 was the last time I was in Nashville but even between the annual trips back then, there was so much change and it keeps getting bigger. That’s one of the things people say about London too is that you don’t realise how big a city it is until you get here. Where we are here at the O2 is a long way from the centre of town. Have you braved the tube yet?
“I did, my sister is studying abroad here so last night I did it by myself first time and it was funny, there was a really sweet lady at the ticket counter who just handed me a paper map, she circled where I needed to be and she said good luck. It was a blast obviously like I learned like where to get off and where to get back on so I'm learning, but I mean even from Heathrow to the O2 is a really long way, in my head I thought everything was really central and now like you said, I'm noticing this is a big a big old city.”
I know I’m biased but London is a great city, Berlin definitely is too and I I think the Germans are actually a lot friendlier, well in Berlin at least, than we are here. People in London don't tend to like eye contact or conversation with strangers on the tube.
“That’s what my sister told me, don’t look at people on the tube ha-ha. I’ve found people really, really friendly and everywhere though, like my cab driver on the way to my hotel here, we had an hour long conversation and was just really, really friendly. Even in Germany too with the German language in Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt, everybody is so kind. I don't know if it's just to Americans but I feel like it might be everybody, they're just very hospitable.”
“Three years man, it’s crazy.”
You’ve probably seen it change a lot in just the three years you have been there.
“It’s wild, the bar that I met everybody at is gone, in three years I went from knowing where everything was to it being completely changed.”
I haven’t been out there since the pandemic, 2019 was the last time I was in Nashville but even between the annual trips back then, there was so much change and it keeps getting bigger. That’s one of the things people say about London too is that you don’t realise how big a city it is until you get here. Where we are here at the O2 is a long way from the centre of town. Have you braved the tube yet?
“I did, my sister is studying abroad here so last night I did it by myself first time and it was funny, there was a really sweet lady at the ticket counter who just handed me a paper map, she circled where I needed to be and she said good luck. It was a blast obviously like I learned like where to get off and where to get back on so I'm learning, but I mean even from Heathrow to the O2 is a really long way, in my head I thought everything was really central and now like you said, I'm noticing this is a big a big old city.”
I know I’m biased but London is a great city, Berlin definitely is too and I I think the Germans are actually a lot friendlier, well in Berlin at least, than we are here. People in London don't tend to like eye contact or conversation with strangers on the tube.
“That’s what my sister told me, don’t look at people on the tube ha-ha. I’ve found people really, really friendly and everywhere though, like my cab driver on the way to my hotel here, we had an hour long conversation and was just really, really friendly. Even in Germany too with the German language in Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt, everybody is so kind. I don't know if it's just to Americans but I feel like it might be everybody, they're just very hospitable.”
Heading back to music, we have talked about the track that you put out recently and you had the bigger project drop last year, which for you would have been worked on for much longer with the way the whole process works, but looking through the rest of the year, what are the plans with more music? Do the metrics and things make you lean more towards singles over a more extended collection?
“Yeah, you need both. I think if you want to build, like if nobody knows who you are, the best way to do it is singles because you're going to get the most attention through the most amount of songs. For us, it was a big deal to make sure people knew that we were working towards something, because I think as fans you want to know that your artist has like a plan, that he's not just like throwing things at the wall. What we're doing is we have one more single coming out later this month and then we have an EP in May. The EP in May is kind of like the big one and we’re really focusing on that one, it's gonna hopefully show my fans who I am from both the good and the bad, listening down, like it's a picture of me.”
That sounds awesome and I take it everything has gone great so far and I guess we'd like to come back but bring some of your boys to get on stage with you.
“That would be amazing. I think the goal for this trip where we did the most of the leg of C2C, starting in Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, here, Glasgow and then, funnily enough, I have a day off in Iceland. But yeah, the goal is to plant seeds, make fans now without the band and then get to a point where we're able to spend the money to get the band here. It’s funny talking to people about Lainey Wilson who headlined last night, the story I keep hearing is like she came for like six years and she played diligently where she kept growing.”
Oh yeah, Lainey broke here before she did in the States and was playing the same stage that you are when she first came over so, let’s hope you can follow that path and I really hope you are enjoying it, those seeds are being planted and we will see you again soon. I appreciate you taking the time to hang out, this has been a cool way to start the day.
“Cold Shoulder” is the latest single from Zach John King which is out now and available HERE. For more information including any upcoming tour dates in North America you can check out his WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with all that Zach is up to socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
C2C: Country to Country will return to Berlin in 2026 across the weekend of March 6th to 8th where you will be able to find more details on their WEBSITE and keep in the loop regarding lineups and ticket information on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK. Then we will see you again in London (or maybe even Belfast/Glasgow) a week later across March 13th to 15th with early bird tickets on sale now where you can find more details on the WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK X and INSTAGRAM)
“Yeah, you need both. I think if you want to build, like if nobody knows who you are, the best way to do it is singles because you're going to get the most attention through the most amount of songs. For us, it was a big deal to make sure people knew that we were working towards something, because I think as fans you want to know that your artist has like a plan, that he's not just like throwing things at the wall. What we're doing is we have one more single coming out later this month and then we have an EP in May. The EP in May is kind of like the big one and we’re really focusing on that one, it's gonna hopefully show my fans who I am from both the good and the bad, listening down, like it's a picture of me.”
That sounds awesome and I take it everything has gone great so far and I guess we'd like to come back but bring some of your boys to get on stage with you.
“That would be amazing. I think the goal for this trip where we did the most of the leg of C2C, starting in Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, here, Glasgow and then, funnily enough, I have a day off in Iceland. But yeah, the goal is to plant seeds, make fans now without the band and then get to a point where we're able to spend the money to get the band here. It’s funny talking to people about Lainey Wilson who headlined last night, the story I keep hearing is like she came for like six years and she played diligently where she kept growing.”
Oh yeah, Lainey broke here before she did in the States and was playing the same stage that you are when she first came over so, let’s hope you can follow that path and I really hope you are enjoying it, those seeds are being planted and we will see you again soon. I appreciate you taking the time to hang out, this has been a cool way to start the day.
“Cold Shoulder” is the latest single from Zach John King which is out now and available HERE. For more information including any upcoming tour dates in North America you can check out his WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with all that Zach is up to socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
C2C: Country to Country will return to Berlin in 2026 across the weekend of March 6th to 8th where you will be able to find more details on their WEBSITE and keep in the loop regarding lineups and ticket information on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK. Then we will see you again in London (or maybe even Belfast/Glasgow) a week later across March 13th to 15th with early bird tickets on sale now where you can find more details on the WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK X and INSTAGRAM)
