Meet Zachary Burnett

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zachary Burnett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Zachary , appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

A lot of inspiration for me comes from being around other musicians. Creativity for myself comes and goes and there are days when I’ll try and write for hours and not come up with anything. Those days are discouraging, but being with my friends and other musicians always brings me right back. There’s an open mic here in College Station that a lot of us go to every week. Getting to hear these new songs that some of my friends are working on and getting to just hang out with other musicians is inspiring. Writing with other people is also a big source of inspiration for me. Watching guys like Brayden Stewart and Bucky Womble write, motivates me to be better. Seeing how they craft melodies and create a story, encourages me to look deeper into my writing. The talent and skill that those two have pushes me to better my writing and stay as creative as possible.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I grew up in a town outside of Waco, Texas. I attended College at Texas A&M University in College Station, and received my Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management. Upon graduation I started writing songs and playing live music. I started to form a band in early 2023, and we cut our first full band singles in 2024. Two of those are currently out right now, ‘Drown’ and ‘Flicker and Burn’, with the third scheduled to release in 2025. Right now I got a killer group of guys playing with me, Justin Liska (Bass), Gabe McDaniel (Lead Guitar), Ryan Powers (Lead Guitar), and Casen Sledge (Drums). We are trying to get back in the studio this summer to cut a few more songs to release this year. I’ve put a lot of focus on song writing this year and I am excited to release some of these new songs that I have been working on.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Honesty, perseverance, and hardwork. On a broader level these are pretty obvious things that it takes to be succesfull in any business. I think one of the most important aspects of writing is being honest. Being honest with yourself and the process, as well as being honest with the words that you are saying. You have to have something to say and mean it. This is one of the biggest things I’m still working on. I have a bad habit of writing about things that I truly don’t have anything of honest value to say.

As a musician you have to be honest with yourself if this is something you really want to do. Being a musician is a series of lows with a few wins spread throughout. Sometimes it’s driving hours away from home to play for a few hours to an almost empty bar to people that could care less if you were there at all. This is where hard work comes in. You have to work hard to make people care that you are playing. A lot of that is simply just playing shows, learning how to control a crowd, and putting in the work to write good songs that people will stop in their tracks to listen to. This is something I am not all that good at, but am still consistently working on and trying to improve. It also entails working hard to book shows and bring people out to those shows.

Lasty, perserverance is extremely important. There are always good times and bad times. Playing music for a living is no different. Sometimes things don’t go as you planned and you might feel like you’re stuck. It’s also hard feeling like you’re falling behind in life, but if you stay honest and are willing to put in the work that makes it easier to keep going. Music is truly my passion, and I feel like once I finally figured that out it made it that much easier to keep going.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

I am very blessed that I have the most supportive parents. Their unwavering support and encouragement has made a huge impact on me throughout my life. It took me until I was 22 to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Over the years, I tried many different things and thought I found my calling multiple times. Each of these times was always met with encouragement from my parents. No matter what path it was they were always supportive. Even in the times where I might have changed my mind and especially when things weren’t going the best, I knew I always had two people to fall back onto. No matter what anyone else thinks, I know I always have two people in my corner who believe in me and support me in everything I do. Always having the support of the two most important people in my life was impactful in me being able to go out and find my calling and purpose in life.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Karlie Morton – KM Precision – Instagram: @kmprecision

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