Bars are a constant place to lose yourself. Pubs and places worth visiting have a character which transcends the people within. It is in the atmosphere and decor of a place where we can reveal ourselves or even pick up new parts and traits, we may never have known we had until heading in. Travel broadens the mind; a quiet pint stretches the soul. It is a universal language and Zach Bryan knows it. The Great American Bar Scene is an ode to finding yourself and where better to do it than in the comfort of a silver-railed, rum-soaked table with friends and family perched on sticky chairs? Country and alcohol go hand in hand with an unfortunate lack of difference between the two, and yet Bryan has shot new life into it. Spoken word suffering from those we learn from without speaking to.
Faces present themselves through The Great American Bar Scene which you, the listener, are intimate with. Bryan prides himself on the specifics of those beaten-down days and has the courage to keep them open-ended. We can write in the details. Few graduate from the country institute with honours but The Great American Bar Scene brings a mixture of pride and guilt back to the bar. Bryan maintains a constant beauty with these tracks. A few standouts but ultimately the consistency of theme and flow is more important than the individual songs. American Nights is a breezy boom of stomp and holler-like joys, the country identity of plucky young hopefuls who will not return to those bars where spilling their intimate secrets is an expected pastime. We lower our defences in the bar and open up to those not even close to us. It is one of the many joys Bryan captures.
Neat country appeal can be heard throughout The Great American Bar Scene. Conventional roaming in the unconventional modern world. It is a neat mixture of the traditions held still by mainstream country artists but with the observations of someone shielded from the thrills of pop stardom. In turn, Bryan has an honest perception of the place he is. Conventional numbers are available for those scared of leaving the sheltered country life. Memphis; the Blues is about as close a country straight as Bryan gets, though the warmth of the guitar work feels somewhat different to the modern pangs leaking through the genre like a gas leak in the studio. Bryan has a sound remarkably like everything already occurring in the genre and as such will have no trouble welcoming listeners who have not tested the waters of country.
But it turns into more of the same claustrophobic living which strangles the life and potential out of many of these modern country offerings. Skilful guitar playing is what sets Bryan apart, and the occasional slice of wisdom. Finding out who you are is all the better with Bruce Springsteen featuring on a track. The Great American Bar Scene is a conventional country album with a bit of soft bluegrass and rock thrown in for good measure. Better Days and Sandpaper benefit from John Mayer and Springsteen respectively, but Bryan has used these connections well and, ultimately, for the benefit of the tracks, not his star power. His earnestness is appreciated, but the tone taken mellows into a steady stream of what can already be expected from the genre.
