Songs like Zach Bryan: 10 raw, heartland country songs
Songs like Zach Bryan sound like they were sung in one take by someone who meant every line. Ten tracks, from Townes Van Zandt and Springsteen to Tyler Childers and Noah Kahan, with two story songs from Kentucky's Jesse Cole Beckett.
Songs like Zach Bryan sound like they were caught in one take by someone who meant every word. The Oklahoma songwriter and Navy veteran first posted songs like "Heading South" (2019) recorded on a phone, and kept that rawness on American Heartbreak (2022), home of "Something in the Orange," and on "I Remember Everything" with Kacey Musgraves (2023).
Songs like Zach Bryan share three things: a rough, unpolished vocal that cracks when the song needs it, story-driven lyrics full of names, towns and specific details, and a sound that sits between country, folk and heartland rock. The ten tracks below run from Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho and Lefty" (1972) to Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" (2022), with two story songs from Jesse Cole Beckett's 2026 album The Last Porch Light.
Zach Bryan's audience comes from rock and pop as much as from country, and his influences show it: songwriters more than stars, and live takes more than polished studio work. The picks below follow that line, from 1970s Texas songwriting to the 2020s.
Songs like Zach Bryan: 10 raw, heartland country songs
- Townes Van Zandt, "Pancho and Lefty" (1972). The Texas songwriter's ballad of an outlaw and the friend who sold him out. It's the template for the cinematic story song Zach Bryan writes.
- Bruce Springsteen, "Atlantic City" (1982). From the stark, home-recorded Nebraska, a story of a man out of options. Bryan's rough, live-in-the-room sound has a precedent here.
- Turnpike Troubadours, "Diamonds & Gasoline" (2010). Oklahoma red dirt country with fiddle, grit and a hard-luck story, from Bryan's home state.
- Gregory Alan Isakov, "Big Black Car" (2013). A quiet, rueful folk song about holding on to someone, with the hushed intimacy of Bryan's slower songs.
- Jason Isbell, "Cover Me Up" (2013). A recovery love song sung with almost nothing behind it, as raw and personal as anything on American Heartbreak.
- Jesse Cole Beckett, "Her Name Was June". The eighth track on The Last Porch Light is a regret song: the narrator meets June at a gas station outside Tulsa, stays three years instead of moving on to Austin, and walks away from the garden and kids she wanted. The Oklahoma setting and the named, specific woman are pure Zach Bryan territory.
- Colter Wall, "Sleeping on the Blacktop" (2017). A deep, weathered voice and an acoustic guitar telling a drifter's story, stripped all the way down.
- Tyler Childers, "Lady May" (2017). A tender love song from a Kentucky songwriter, sung with an acoustic guitar and a voice that sounds like it's right next to you.
- Jesse Cole Beckett, "Sawmill Road". Track four, at 5:25, is a portrait of a fading mill town told by a son whose father worked the sawmill for thirty-seven years. When the plant closes, people scatter and the narrator stays to tend the graves, the small-town elegy Bryan's fans know from his slower songs.
- Noah Kahan, "Stick Season" (2022). A folk-pop breakup song about being stuck in a small New England town, with a chantable chorus and a narrator who can't decide whether home is a comfort or a trap.
Zach Bryan's songs sound unfinished on purpose, because finished would sound less true.
What artists like Zach Bryan share
The first thread is rawness. "Atlantic City," "Cover Me Up" and "Sleeping on the Blacktop" all sound recorded close and fast, with no gloss over the voice. That's what Zach Bryan's phone recordings proved people wanted.
The second thread is the story song. "Pancho and Lefty" and Jesse Cole Beckett's "Her Name Was June" are built on characters with names and places with coordinates. Bryan's best songs work the same way: a person, a town, a choice that can't be undone.
The third thread is place. Oklahoma, Kentucky, Texas, New Jersey and Vermont all show up in these songs, and every one treats home as something you leave and carry at the same time. "Sawmill Road" makes that the whole song.
More artists like Zach Bryan
The artists most often grouped with Zach Bryan are the songwriters at the meeting point of country, folk and heartland rock: Tyler Childers, Jason Isbell, Colter Wall, Turnpike Troubadours, Noah Kahan and Sturgill Simpson, with Bruce Springsteen and Townes Van Zandt as the elders. Each shares his preference for story over polish.
If you love Zach Bryan for the stories, look for songs with named characters, specific towns and choices that can't be taken back. If you love him for the sound, look for live-sounding recordings where the voice cracks and nobody fixed it. Jesse Cole Beckett's The Last Porch Light is a full album of story songs: a trucker on I-40 in "Diesel and Dust," a farmer facing foreclosure in "Forty Acres and a Prayer," and a homecoming shadowed by grief in the title track.
Where to start
If American Heartbreak is your Zach Bryan album, start with "Pancho and Lefty," "Diamonds & Gasoline" and Jesse Cole Beckett's "Her Name Was June". If you came through "I Remember Everything," play "Lady May," "Stick Season" and "Sawmill Road".
For a full album, Jesse Cole Beckett's sixteen-track The Last Porch Light (May 2026) is built entirely on story songs. Our modern outlaw country guide and Americana guide cover the traditions around it.
Key takeaways
- Songs like Zach Bryan pair rough, unpolished vocals with detailed story songs between country, folk and heartland rock.
- Townes Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska are the clearest precedents.
- Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Isbell, Colter Wall and Tyler Childers are the natural next listens.
- Jesse Cole Beckett's "Her Name Was June" and "Sawmill Road" from The Last Porch Light tell the same kind of named, specific stories.
Zach Bryan reminded a huge audience that a song can be rough and still land. The ten songs above prove the idea is older than him and will outlast the moment, because a good story told plainly never goes out of style.
FAQ
What songs are like Zach Bryan?
Songs like Zach Bryan include Tyler Childers' "Lady May" (2017), Jason Isbell's "Cover Me Up" (2013), Colter Wall's "Sleeping on the Blacktop" (2017) and Turnpike Troubadours' "Diamonds & Gasoline" (2010). All four pair a rough, unpolished vocal with a detailed story.
What should I listen to if I like Zach Bryan?
If you like Zach Bryan, listen to Tyler Childers, Jason Isbell, Colter Wall, Turnpike Troubadours and Noah Kahan. For the roots of the style, go back to Townes Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska (1982).
Is Zach Bryan outlaw country?
Not strictly. Zach Bryan sits between country, folk and heartland rock, but his raw, lightly produced story songs are why he is often grouped with modern outlaw country artists such as Tyler Childers and Colter Wall. Our modern outlaw country guide covers the style.
Who is Jesse Cole Beckett?
Jesse Cole Beckett is a McCandless Records outlaw country act from Hazard, Kentucky. His debut album, The Last Porch Light, came out in May 2026 and runs sixteen songs.