Concert review: Who is Zach Bryan and how did he sell out Target Center?

Emerging country star Zach Bryan’s story is almost too good to be true.

Born into a military family, Bryan — who headlined Target Center Wednesday night — started writing songs at 14 and enlisted in the Navy three years later. Soon after, he began recording and posting his music on YouTube while on active duty.

Bryan self-released albums in 2019 and 2020 that landed on several Billboard charts as his single “Heading South” went platinum. In 2021, he toured for the first time, made his Grand Ole Opry debut, signed a major-label deal with Warner and was honorably discharged by the Navy to pursue music full time after serving for eight years.

Warner issued Bryan’s triple-album “American Heartbreak” last year and it entered the charts at No. 5. His self-titled follow-up is due out Aug. 25. By all accounts, he’s a gracious and unassuming guy.

Despite spending the majority of his short career working outside the industry, he drew more than 20,000 fans Wednesday to the downtown Minneapolis basketball arena, where he played on an in-the-round stage with every seat filled and the general admission floor packed shoulder-to-shoulder. Oh, and everyone in the room sang along to every song.

The 27-year-old’s success is absolutely stunning when you consider a year ago, Bryan headlined Surly Brewing Festival Field in front of about a fourth the number in the crowd Wednesday. (At one point, Bryan semi-apologized for throwing such a party in the middle of the week.) There are many country acts with tons of hits and years of experience who couldn’t draw numbers like this.

What, exactly, is going on here? Bryan specializes in plainspoken, old-school country songs about real life topics like the death of a relative, working hard, falling in love and having fun with friends. The key is that he does so with none of the gimmicks and bumper sticker lyrics employed by other Nashville stars.

Really, Bryan’s approach is closer to Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers than Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Blake Shelton. But unlike any of those guys, Bryan doesn’t have a stage persona to speak of. Instead, he comes across as just another guy who happens to have struck a nerve with his songwriting.

And what a nerve he has struck. I wasn’t kidding about everyone was singing along. The crowd was largely 30 and under, did not feel like a typical country music audience and kept their focus squarely on Bryan throughout.

Bryan’s song structures are simple enough to work even if it’s just him and his guitar. Still, he kept a large band at his waiting, adding fiddle, keyboards and brass when needed. At first listen, his vocals are nothing special, but as he got deeper into his set, he revealed his ability to express a range of emotions and often broke out into a growl reminiscent of Garth Brooks in his prime.

At this rate, Bryan will play a stadium next time he’s in town. Garth better watch his back.

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