Country Musician Zach Bryan Transparently Explains His Oklahoma Arrest

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | September 8, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | September 8, 2023 |

For those of you who don’t know, Zach Bryan is basically the biggest country musician in America right now. Although his music leans more Whiskeytown/Bright Eyes than Blake Shelton or Luke Combs. He’s prolific, and he’s good. His music is soulful, melancholy, ragged, and full of heartache. I’m at an age where I don’t often listen to new musicians — my musical interests froze around 2004 — but a few months ago, I dove into a Zach Bryan phase. I listened to him for about three weeks straight and found myself in a weird funk where all I wanted to do was drink whiskey and smoke cigarettes.

I’ve since learned that Zach Bryan is best enjoyed in moderation. Still, he’s phenomenal, and what’s more impressive is his backstory. He’s just this Oklahoma kid, who started writing songs in the military. After leaving the army to pursue music, within a year or two, he’s selling out concerts all over America—except, apparently, in the Northeast. Like, dude? WTF! He’s also a stand-up guy who called out Travis Tritt for his transphobia. It’s surprising to become enamored with an Oklahoma country musician and then find out he’s not what you’d expect.

I mean no disrespect towards anyone specifically, I don’t even mind @Travistritt.
I just think insulting transgender people is completely wrong because we live in a country where we can all just be who we want to be
It’s a great day to be alive I thought

— Zach Bryan (@zachlanebryan) April 8, 2023

Great day to be alive! Get it? Because Travis … you know what, never mind.

He did get arrested this week, and his mugshot was all over the internet. But around 5 a.m. this morning on a car trip to NYC with his dog, Bryan stopped his car in a gas station and released a video explaining what happened. Basically, he got “lippy” with a cop and later apologized, saying, “It doesn’t reflect who I am.”

From what I can tell, he was rightfully angry at an asshole Southern cop. Granted, if he weren’t a white guy (and famous), things might’ve gone differently. Still, I can’t stand those small-town speed-trap cops who pull you over for going five miles over the limit and treat you like you’re a child caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Just thinking about the number of times I was pulled over in Arkansas for no good reason makes me want to get “lippy” with a cop, too.

Here’s Zach Bryan’s explanation.

for the sake of transparency on yesterday pic.twitter.com/IJRjEDOrCH

— Zach Bryan (@zachlanebryan) September 8, 2023

Good guy, right? (Please don’t disabuse me of my music crush by telling me he has some dark past.)

Bryan’s just released his self-titled album, which includes guest musicians War and Treaty, Sierra Ferrell, Kacey Musgraves, and (Hey. Ho.) the Lumineers.

via Uproxx