Zach Top might have just become the new face of neotraditional country, and he did it with a cold Coors Banquet in hand.
The 2025 CMA Awards reminded us why country music is finally feeling like country again, and one of the most unforgettable moments of the night came when Zach Top walked on stage, beer still in hand, to accept his first-ever CMA Award for New Artist of the Year. No frills, no pretenses, just a small-town guy holding a can and soaking in the kind of moment you dream about in honky-tonk bars and back road tour vans.
And the crowd? They ate it up like biscuits at Sunday supper.
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Wearing a sharp blue suit and that signature cowboy hat, the Washington native didn’t try to be anything but himself. He raised that beer like a trophy, laughed through his speech, and gave thanks to the people who helped him get there, including his siblings who toured the bluegrass circuit with him in a family band long before arenas and awards shows ever came into play. It was a humble, hilarious, and heartfelt moment that fit Zach Top’s whole vibe perfectly.
“This is me, whether you like it or not,” he said later in an interview, shrugging off the idea that maybe showing up with a beer on stage wasn’t the “classiest” look. “I don’t know if I was supposed to do that or not… I went to pull out my thank-you list and realized both my hands were full, and one of them was full of beer.”
And honestly, it would’ve felt wrong if it wasn’t.
Zach Top has spent the last couple of years breathing life back into a sound many folks thought Nashville had left behind. His albums Cold Beer & Country Music and Ain’t In It for My Health sound like they were cut straight from the Alan Jackson and George Strait era, but with a modern edge that hits right in the chest. His song “I Never Lie” landed him Grammy nominations, and both albums broke into the Billboard charts without having to bend to the trends. He didn’t just show up. He showed out, unapologetically.
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Top’s nod from the CMAs feels like more than just a win for one artist. It’s a sign of where country music might finally be headed again. For a long time, the genre has wrestled with pop crossovers, social media fluff, and the chase for mainstream approval. But Zach Top proved that you can keep it simple, stay traditional, and still be relevant.
Earlier this year, Top joked that if he had won last year, he might have ended up naked on Broadway. This time, he made it to the stage fully dressed but still gave us a moment that’ll be talked about for years.
After the show, when asked how he planned to celebrate, Top said, “I mean, I brought a beer on stage for my acceptance speech, so it’s going to involve a lot of beer, probably.”
Cheers to that, and cheers to a guy who showed that country music is still best when it’s honest, rowdy, and a little rough around the edges. Zach Top did not just win an award. He won the crowd. And he did it without setting down his drink.
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