Zach Bryan is not one to forget where he came from. The Oklahoma-bred “I Remember Everything” singer and military veteran sat down last month with actor Matthew McConaughey for one of his first public interviews in years to discuss Bryan’s new book and EP, Young Manhood & Other Donatable Organs, as well as the sweet, honorable gesture he makes to his former commanding officer in the Navy who helped get his career off the ground.
“Is it true you give your commanding officer a cut of royalties on every track since?,” McConaughey asked after Bryan described the crucial role his former Navy commanding officer, Leo Alba, played in helping to produce his 2019 debut album, DeAnn during the wide-ranging, two-hour On the Porch podcast interview with the actor who starred in his 2024 “Nine Ball” video.
“He’s the reason, man. He’s the reason I recorded any songs ever at all!,” said Bryan, who joined the Navy at 17 and served in active duty from 2013 until an honorable discharge in 2021 to pursue his music dream after encouragement from Alba to record a full album while the singer was still enlisted. “And I thought it was justified, man. He’s the reason I have any music at all. He’s the reason we’re all here at this house pretty much. I wouldn’t be who I was without him f–kin’ looking at me and saying I can record those songs.”
Bryan, 30, said Alba’s children call him “uncle” and Alba comes to his shows all the time and, to this day, he gives Alba a percentage of royalties from every song he releases. “Because that’s how much that meant to me,” he said of Alba’s encouragement. “Him believing in me enough to do that for me.”
The interview also features Bryan discussing his sobriety, the difficulty of life on the road, God and the inspiration behind his recently released eight-track Young Manhood & Other Donatable Organs EP, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums, Top Rock Albums and Americana/Folk Albums charts and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in its first week of release last month. The EP features a duet with Lana Del Rey on “Lies” and the Turnpike Troubadours on “Plainsman.”
Watch Bryan discuss Alba’s impact on his career below.
