Zach Neil Reins in his Best Work to Date with “All The Pretty Horses”

Just when we think Zach Neil can’t top his last effort, he goes ahead and does just that.

Neil closed his 2022 landing his last single, “Long Live the Cowboy” in the top 100 of the Texas Country Music Chart’s top singles of 2022. And before the year ended, he released the cinematic “All The Pretty Horses,” an undeniably catchy song that comes equipped with a singalong chorus that stands up with the best tunes Neil has released thus far.

We caught up with Neil to talk all about his new single, as well as his success in 2022, his Male Artist of the Year win, new music and more!

Pro Country: Your last single, “Long Live the Cowboy,” became one of your top-streamed songs in your catalog, and also landed in the top 100 of the Texas Country Music Chart’s top songs of 2022. How much did you enjoy the positive response to the song and having the opportunity to tangibly see the support it received?

Zach Neil: It’s always gone over great live, but I’m very thankful that it connected at radio too. I think it’s our best performing radio single so far, so that’s a good feeling.

PC: Why did you feel that your newest single, “All The Pretty Horses,” was the right follow up to “Long Live the Cowboy”?

ZN: I love the melody and the imagery in it. I had been playing “All The Pretty Horses” at radio stops for a while, and it always went over really well. The last two singles, “Long Live the Cowboy” and “Half Bad’,’ were both up-tempo, so we thought it would be a nice change.

PC: You co-wrote “All The Pretty Horses” with Wyatt Earp. Can you take us in the room and talk about how the song came together?

ZN: I had the line “All the pretty horses that she used to love” in my head for about a year. I thought it was a cool opening line, but not a hook for a song. Wyatt and I got together and I threw out that line. He looked right back at me and said the next two lines, and we had the first verse done. We wrote it in about an hour, but felt something was missing on the chorus. After a couple weeks of texting ideas back and forth, we found a cool way to connect the end of that chorus. I love it because it’s unexpected when you hear it.

PC: You were named Male Artist of the Year at last year’s TCMA Awards. What do awards and recognition from within the Texas country music industry mean to you, especially given the collective talent on the scene right now?

ZN: I was surprised, but very grateful and humbled by it. Writing songs, recording or playing live, the goal is always to make it the best it can be and hope it connects with and grows an audience. We’ve been seeing that growth this last year, and the award is really for everyone who helped make that happen!

PC: You have a handful of shows already set for this year. After a heavy touring schedule last year, particularly in the summer, how much are you looking forward to hitting the road again this year?

ZN: I’m excited to build off what we did last year! We’ve got some cool shows coming up that haven’t been announced yet, but it’s setting up to be a busy and fun year!

PC: What do you have planned for 2023?

ZN: We’ve got a few shows in January and February, but going to be using most of that time to work on new music. Then it’s going to be a busy touring schedule through the summer.