We were lucky to catch up with Zachariah Witcher recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Zachariah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I really believe that my career started in college. I went to Belmont University and although I wasn’t being paid for a lot of the work I did, I was gaining connections the whole time I was there. I played for as many artists, producers, and engineers as I could and a bit of those turned into recording gigs and artist/touring gigs after college.

From there I just kept doing the same thing. Finding circles of musicians/artists I enjoyed and eventually got my shot to play with a lot of great people. At first it was a lot of music being played for a little bit of money but pay did eventually get better. Some of my personal milestones were playing for a local favorite artist Mike Hicks, doing an arena tour with Jessy Wilson opening for The Black Keys, and playing a few different TV broadcasts with Yola during the pandemic.

Over time my name has gotten around and I am now able to say that music is 100% my full time job. Whether it’s touring, arranging, recording or whatever else may come up…it’s all music.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Zachariah Witcher and I am from Seven Springs, NC. My first instrument was as drums and I switched to bass guitar around the 2nd grade. I played in church growing up and started in marching and jazz band in the 10th grade. My marching band teacher pointed me in the direction of music school after I tore my ACL right before senior year. That was the main switch to music as a potential career.

I went to Belmont University and graduated in 2013 with a Music Performance bachelors degree. Since then I have toured and recorded as my main jobs. During the pandemic I got into production and live show production. Recently I started a company with a friend of mine called Off Brand Entertainment. Our goal is to be able to give artists a full and complete show tailored to their budget. We can build the show to run with just a DJ or up to a full band. We program and arrange the music, rehearse the band, write the charts and anything else that would be needed to make their musical vision come to fruition.

Away from the musical direction work at OffBrand Entertainment I play for quite a few different artists around the Nashville area ranging in genres from jazz to Americana and country to rock and pop as well. I love being able to hear the artists vision for the songs and live in their musical world for a bit. It’s even more enjoyable when they really want what I personally have to offer on bass and I get to interpret the music through my own musical filter.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I think the main thing that drives my creativity is just acknowledging that music is a gift given to me (by God). I feel that creating music is just in me to do. Even on days when I’m not stoked about the gig I’m playing or the song I’m recording I am still happy to be playing music.

I also feel that music is a gift meant to be shared. Whether it be with other musicians or listeners at a concert it feels good to see that the gift I have is appreciated by others or helps them in any kind of way.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The way I chose to go into music as a potential career was actually a huge pivot for me. All through high school I was very into basketball. My plan for college was to play basketball somewhere and just figure out a major I liked once I got there. Right before senior year of high school I was at a practice before my AAU teams first tournament for the summer and I tore my ACL. So I did not get to play basketball at all that summer and I couldn’t play my senior year of high school either.

My marching band teacher at some point asked me if I knew what I wanted to do for college and I had no idea. I told him my plan was basketball but I couldn’t do that anymore so I didn’t have a plan anymore. He asked me if I had heard about Belmont University or about being a touring/session musician. At that time I had no idea what either of those were but I knew I enjoyed playing music. From that point I auditioned at two university’s and ended up choosing Belmont and that’s what began my professional music journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://prodbyblackxneck.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/blackxneck?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@xZachariahWitcherx?si=uxqrWHRQ1GoqQqnb

Image Credits
Mary Caroline Russell Darius Fitzgerald Chelsea Thompson