Could Zach Bryan have a Grammys breakthrough with ‘The Great American Bar Scene’?

Zach Bryan’s star power is not to be doubted. The country-rock singer-songwriter has been on the rise for the past few years, with his 2023 self-titled effort topping both the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 (with the single “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves). He enjoyed quite a lot of success thanks to that album and its predecessor “American Heartbreak,” including four total Grammy nominations. “I Remember Everything” granted Bryan his first win at the awards show, taking Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

But the Grammys seem to be ambivalent about embracing Bryan, even though he’s an acclaimed and successful singer-songwriter with a more traditional sound — the Grammys’ type. “American Heartbreak” was relegated to a Best Country Solo Performance nom and missed some key categories like Best New Artist, Best Country Album, and Song of the Year. Similarly, while his self-titled record got three nominations, his absence from Album, Song and Record of the Year was notable. Now that Bryan is back again with a new full-length LP, titled “The Great American Bar Scene,” the question is whether this might finally be the year Bryan crosses over into the big leagues.

Expectedly, this new album has been a success for Bryan. “The Great American Bar Scene” peaked at number-two on the Billboard 200, and likely would’ve debuted atop the chart had it not been released on a Thursday, splitting its first week sales and streaming figures into two chart weeks. The record launched the top-10 hit single “Pink Skies,” and charted almost all of its songs on the Hot 100 during its release week. It also got good reviews, scoring 73 on Metacritic, which indicates generally favorable reviews (even if it isn’t necessarily among the most acclaimed of the year). The album should have legs too, like both of Bryan’s previous records, and spend multiple weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

For awards, “The Great American Bar Scene” has some advantages that its predecessors didn’t. First, Bryan is a bigger star than he was even just a year ago, which is always helpful in guaranteeing exposure to voters. Another major plus it has is its features. While Bryan has done many collaborations throughout his career, this record has two especially important ones with Grammy favorites John Mayer and Bruce Springsteen. This could help with Bryan’s cross-genre appeal, attracting rock voters as well as casual fans of both artists from any genre. Mayer and Springsteen have 27 Grammys combined, most of those being in the rock field, meaning that their contributions are a great way to attract that voting base.

This new album is also closer to Americana than his past two, leaning more into rock elements along with Bryan’s usual folk-style tunes. His usual base of country voters, along with more support from Americana and rock voters, could be enough to get Bryan into the general categories. It also doesn’t hurt that country music is quite on the rise with the general public, so it wouldn’t be shocking if voters all across the academy enjoyed Bryan’s music too.

So where might he be nominated? His most likely bids are Album and Record of the Year. Since those ballots are ordered alphabetically by last name, Bryan will be close to the top, increasing his visibility. Plus, those categories are wider open, especially Album of the Year, where most of the contenders everyone’s predicting are pop records. It’s unlikely that we will get a complete lineup of pop artists, so if anyone has the potential to shake things up, it could be Bryan.

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