Meet Zach Day | Singer/Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zach Day and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zach, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in the backwoods of southeastern Kentucky, in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. I grew up on a little farm with a few cows, some chickens, random pets here and there. We could go collect spring water in the woods and live off of that if we needed to… my grandparents fashioned a homemade filtration system to collect the water, it’s amazing. Growing up as a queer person in the “bible belt” was a challenge, however it also made me view everything through a certain lens that others may not have seen it through. I look back on my childhood and realize I was simply an observer. I had a small group of friends that also happened to be musicians and singers… amazing ones at that. I wasn’t concerned with school, or much of anything really other than honing my craft. I would do what was necessary to survive day to day but all I wanted to do was make music. It was in those moments of watching my friend play the guitar, studying each others vocal choices and harmonies, vowel shapes and breathing patterns, that I learned how to make music and how special growing up on a porch in the middle of the woods was going to be to my life. In Appalachian culture, storytelling and family ties are everything. It impacted the way I tell my stories, and the way I share the parts of it that I choose to share. It’s so beautiful in those woods but also quite terrifying in places. You have to respect it, own that it is in your blood… I have such a deep affinity for Appalachia.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It’s been difficult to get where I am in my career to this point because I had everything working against me. Often times I think it’s a miracle that I made it out of my hometown, no offense to anyone or anything there but it’s very easy to get comfortable. It’s as if no one wants to see us succeed. It’s easier to never travel, or not go to college, or not actively reach for the dreams you have. It’s much easier. But for some reason I always had this rebellious spirit inside of me and I still do. I push myself every day to the brink of losing my mind actually but I have to keep going.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m not an LA native so still very new but I would suggest we go get some Korean BBQ down the street, go get Bingsu, maybe catch a Monday Monday at Hotel Cafe!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ll happily shoutout the two friends that I learned to sing with: Brandon Holbrook and Heidi Greer. The three of us bonded way up in the mountains 45 minutes from the nearest grocery store. We had a guitar and our voices and that was about it. We would skip school sometimes just to learn a new song or if we made it onto the schoolbus, the driver would ask us to harmonize and sing hymns or a Rascal Flatts song. Once I learned how to play guitar from watching Heidi strum chords, I would start writing my own songs. I already knew how to play some piano from years of various teachers (my Aunt Mystie, Mr. Stone, Jana, Mrs. Debbie) and I would write simple tunes but it wasn’t until I learned how to accompany myself on guitar that I really got serious about writing great songs. I had a heartbreak when I was 18/19 (shoutout to him) and that was when I wrote the first song I was really proud of.

I started singing background vocals and cowriting with some friends in Kentucky, they are band of guys called Mojothunder (Sean Sullivan, Bryson Willoughby, Andrew Brockman, Zac Shoopman) and they are awesome. They trusted me with a lot of their tunes, and trusted that I would sing some badass background vocals for them, or they would let me open for them at shows. Love those guys.

I have written a lot of songs that I love now and I have written with some amazing folks… Hana Elion being one who cowrote and produced my newest tune “New York”. I’ve been really comfortable creating and experimenting with music these days with friends Eli Pafumi, Jere Pafumi, and Richard Rauda. They have been learning my songs and playing live shows with me for a minute now. They were the first band to play live on tour with me.

Website: youknowzach.com

Instagram: @youknowzach

Twitter: @youknowzach

Facebook: @youknowzachmusic

Youtube: youknowzach

Other: tiktok: @youknowzachmusic spotify/apple music: Zach Day

Image Credits
Chelsea Robinson Deryne Photography