Zach Person was born in a small town located in southern New Jersey. As a child his mother relocated them to her hometown of Southern Pines, NC where Zach would spend his early childhood drawing, reading comic books and skateboarding. On weekends, punk bands would set up their in the industrial, skate warehouses of Moore County and perform loud and energetic sets amongst the local skaters. It was during these performances that Zach would grow an interest in the electric guitar. At the age of 10, Zach was gifted a toy guitar with a 9-volt battery-powered speaker following the tragic death of his father, a correctional officer who was murdered by two inmantes while serving on duty at the now-closed Jessup House of Corrections in Baltimore, Maryland. Zach's mother, a singer- though not by profession, encouraged him to process his emotions through music. It didn't take much convincing as he took to the instrument like a bird to flight. At the age of 11, he was gifted his first real guitar- a Starcaster by Fender Strat - and signed up for lessons with James Villone before transitioning to Baxter Clement of Casino Guitars (music shop) a few months later. It was during his first lesson with Baxter Clement that he was given a list of msucians to study in alphabetical order- Albert King, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughan- among many others. Zach wasted no time and found himself later that night on the early version of YouTube watching a clip of B.B. King performing "The Thrill Is Gone" with Gary Moore. Zach watched in awe as the man in the "big green suit" shot lightining filled notes out from his fingers only to have them returned by the other guitarist on stage. This was the defining moment where nothing would ever be the same for Zach Person. At the age of 13, Zach and his mother moved to Houston, TX. During an eighth-grade career day, Zach peformed a cover of 'Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon for two presenters at a music studio career booth. Little did he know a crowd of fellow students had gathered behind him and applauded his performance. He was then introduced to two students who had a band in need of a guitarist. He would eventually join the band which would become 'Project X' (before the movie) and they would go on to perform at various events around the gretaer Houston area- including a monthly residency at the first-floor restuarant / venue of House of Blues Houston. In the sophmore year of high-school the band would part ways and Zach would go on to pursue a solo path. After gaining a bit of confidence singing live with Project X, Zach would go club to club around Houston with his guitar, perfomroing for club owners in hopes of finding a gig. He got his first lucky break at the Irish / U.K. themed pub, Big Ben Tavern. Performing 3-4 hour solo, cover gigs a couple nights each week was the perfect training ground for Zach to develop his live performance chops and strengthen his abilites as a vocalist. Towards the end of high-school he was reccomended to fill in for a guitarist friend at a large church in the city. At this point in time Zach didn't even own an electric guitar. He'd traded all his gear in for an acoustic guitar and PA system for solo shows. He was offered to use the house rig and was surpised when he arrived. He was handed a Custom Shop Fender Stratocaster and plugged into a massive pedalboard which then fed into a Marshall halfstack. After hitting one chord and hearing it echo through the church auditiorium, he knew he would need to return to his electric roots- and find a band.
After graduating his senior year of high-school, Zach's plans for the fall were derailed when he submitted a self-tape for Season 15 of the show T.V. show 'American Idol'. He was invited to audtion in-person for judges Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. in Philidelphia, PA. He would win his ticket to Hollywood and continue on to the top 24 deciding round where he was soon after cut -from what was announced to be the final season of the series- likely due to a hesitance to open up about the story surrounding the death of his father. After returning home to HTX follwing his time in Hollywood, Zach became a name in his city- riding the high of his achievement and performing consistently at public and private events. At some point the need to move to a bigger music market with greater opportunity felt inevitable and he would decide to make the move to Austin, TX.
In the days moving to Austin, he would host auditions for a ATX- based drummer and land on musician, Jake Wyble. The two (along with a series of revolving bassists) would take on every bar up and down historic 6th street, most notably a weekly, Thursday night residency at Friends Bar from 10:30pm to 2am- which featured blues, rock, soul and roots acts. It was here that the musicans would build a reputation in the city. During SXSW of 2018, Zach performed at the grand opening of the Fairmont Austin garnering attention from various local industry figures. He would begin a relationship with a management team that would go on to form the short-lived Austin indie, 'BlackDenim Records', before dissolving after a year due to strong, opposing differences amongst members. During this time however, Zach would be scouted by now CEO of Amazon, Andy Jassy, and invited to perform at the inagural re:Play / re:Invent at the Las Vegas Fairgrounds. This would begin an ongoing relationship between Zach and the Seattle-based tech company- including an appearance at AWS' 'Intersect Music Festival' putting him in company with artists such as The Foo Fighters, Beck, Kacey Musgraves, Anderson Paak, H.E.R., Leon Bridges and Thundercat. In the background, Zach would begin working on his debut EP in 2019 following the passing of his mother due to a sudden diagnosis of breast cancer. The impending worldwide pandemic of 2020 would provide an unexpected stillness giving Zach the room to sit with the loss- with additional support as he'd also gotten married during the pandemic.
Following a season of uncertainty and strife with management during the release of his self-titled, debut-album in 2021- which included a debut European Tour with the agency Tres Hombres Tour Support, Zach entered into 2022 looking for a fresh start. With a new "used" van and a willing booking agent, Zach hit the road as a duo performing with drummer-and now muscial partner- Jake Wyble. The two powered around the U.S. in a minivan making the most of each performance to get to the next big break. This included 2 follow-up E.U. and U.K. tours, Support slots for artists such as Larkin Poe, Robert Cray, Black Joe Lewis and Rev Peyton's Big Damn Band and festivals like Austin City Limits, Mammoth Bluesapalooza and Telluride Blues & Brews Fest.
2024 sparked a new chapter for Zach, as he would release his sophomore album, "Let's Get Loud"- produced by Nashville-based rock & roll star, Tyler Bryant. He would also relocate (along with band member) to Atlanta, GA and begin a managemnt relationship with Atwell Management- launched by former Triple Eight co-founder and major label verteran, Jesse Atwell. Zach has since conituned to tour stateside and internationally- inclduing a collanoration with rock icon, Kathy Valentine (Bass in The Go-Go's) on a the song, "We Don't Play" which was followed up by a co-headline tour in the U.K. with her TX-based project, The Bluebonnets. In 2024-'25 he supported various tours with Blackberry Smoke, The Dip, Kool & the Gang, X-Ambassadors, Samantha Fish, Neal Francis, Tauk, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe- and shared stages with Better Than Ezra, Trombone Shorty, Devon Allman, Buddy Guy, Grace Bowers, Kingfish, Lowcut Connie & more.
In early 2026, Zach released his first two singles of an upcoming project titled, "Blow" and "Tonight". He was also selected as the featured talent to launch a year-long, global campagin between Marshall Amps & the Jimi Hendrix estate. Zach has plans to release a full length project in the coming year, along side a series of collabortive singles with other notable artists- some of which he's producing out of his own studio- ColorSound Recordings. He also has plans to headline shows around North America and support various artists inlcuding Ariel Posen's, 'Bannatyne' album tour in the fall.
