Meet Zack
When Zack Walther went to college to major in music, he had to choose an “instrument of study.” And—no accident—he chose his own voice. As a child of the 1980s he sang in the school choir and learned to play songs by ear on his brother’s upright piano, “But it was mainly the white keys,” he recalls. Then, as an afterthought, he adds, “It still is.” That piano may have been the first musical instrument he ever touched, but it certainly wasn’t the last.
By the time the ’90s rolled around, he was a teenager immersed in rock and roll and already a developing musician. That’s when he found his father’s old nylon-string classical guitar, long forgotten and stashed in the family attic. When he was 13, his folks, aware of his interest, bought him a basic electric guitar and a little Crate amp. Two years later, they surprised him on Christmas with his first quality acoustic guitar. “I played all through Christmas day,” he says. “Playing songs, learning songs, country songs, rock songs, just basic chords.” Still, he knew he was destined to be a vocalist—first and foremost.
“Singing was a natural thing for me, and it always has been because I’ve gone through college and actually been classically trained to sing.” He picked up piano and guitar on his own, and though he’s had a few lessons, considers himself self-taught. “There was always interest early on, very early, playing music and singing. And because I was the vocalist of my friends, I’ve always been the lead singer,” he says. “
And his growth as an artist never stops, as the Zack Walther Band expands its audience. A recent original, “Mustang Wine,” is, as he puts it, “a perfect example of the direction this band is headed.” Wherever Walther and his band are going, they’re doing it at breakneck speed, and for fans of that special kind of music you can only find in Texas, they can’t wait until he gets there.
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– G. C. Larson

Meet Matt
If you’re lucky enough to catch the Zack Walther Band performing live, you notice one thing right away: In most bands, the drummer’s sitting on a small stool surrounded by a whole bunch of drums. But this guy’s standing up, and he’s got just that one snare drum. Plus, if you get closer, you pick up on something strange: his bass pedal is beating on the side of an old suitcase. Yep, you’re looking at Matt Briggs, and his evolution from a kid playing on a second-hand drum kit to his emergence today as a musical force to be reckoned with is sure to become part of Texas music lore.
Zack’s dad bought him a guitar for Christmas, and Matt’s Dad came across a drum kit; it was a foregone conclusion that they would join forces. By then, the two friends were freshmen in high school and started practicing in a garage, doing “Green Day and Pearl Jam, stuff that was cool in the ‘90s,” he says.
​Today he shows up with that suitcase modified with a bass drum pedal, a single snare drum and cymbal on a stand, plus a little tambourine, which serves as a hi-hat (normally a pair of cymbals operated by a foot pedal to open and close). “I have gone through a really minimal kind of way of thinking and playing music,” he says. That minimalist style has become his trademark, and it merges with the mindset of the band as well.
“Zack and I, what we do is we show up with pride. When we go up there we’re singing our songs about things that we care about — songs about Zack’s kids, our wives, our work, our friendship, the business,” he says. “We have a great fan base, and they come out every week. Right now I’m going to be true to my art and do what I do, and if the people eat it up, that’s great. And if the people don’t, well, I’ll just keep working. That’s what me and Zack have always done.”