Zach Bryan is a veteran of the United States Navy, and he recently celebrated one of his friends who decided to re-enlist. During his concert at the Auburn Rodeo in Opelika, Alabama over the weekend, Bryan brought Cameron Tyssen on stage with him, giving his friend a moment to shine.
Onstage Salute To Friend Re-Enlisting In U.S. Navy
“Hey, this is my good friend Cameron Tyssen,” Bryan told the crowd as Tyssen walked on stage to chants of “USA” from the crowd. “He’s an ET-2 [Electronics Technician] in the United States Navy and he re-enlisted today.”
After making it to the microphone, Tyssen greeted the audience with a “Howdy.”
“Thank you all for coming,” he said before addressing his friend. “Zach, you did such an amazing job. Honestly, I can’t express how grateful and thankful I am to the whole crew and everyone here being such a good crowd to him.”
Tyssen continued, “If I can say anything, it’s mama, I love you, God bless the country, God bless America, and God bless the United States Navy baby!”
“Dreams Come True”
Cameron Tyssen further celebrated his achievement on Instagram, posting a photo of himself in uniform and holding his certificate of re-enlistment, Bryan on one side of him and an officer on the other. “Dreams come true,” he wrote in his caption, tagging Bryan.
Zach Bryan Previously Served For 8 Years In Navy
Bryan served in the Navy for eight years and actually signed his record deal with Warner Records in 2021 while he was enlisted.
In October of that year, Bryan announced that he had been honorably discharged in order to pursue his music career. In an Instagram post, he reflected on his own experience in the Navy with a slideshow of photos of himself while serving, including snaps of the singer in uniform and with friends and family.
“I joined the Navy as a 17 year old kid. It’s all I lived, slept and ate for eight years, it’s been all I knew since I was basically a snot-nosed child. It made a man out of me, truly,” his caption began. “I ran with some big dogs, saw a few fights, out drank the best of them, but more importantly, got to serve alongside some of the best men and women I was ever blessed enough to meet.”
Honorably Discharged To Pursue Musical Career
Bryan wrote that “if it was my decision, I would never get out of the worlds greatest Navy, but here I am and they kindly honorably discharged me to go play some music.”
“Can’t tell if I’m a coward or if I’m chasing a dream but regardless, the best eight years of my life were spent serving the best country in the whole damn world,” he continued. “Thank you guys and I’ll see you on tour.”
During an appearance on Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen in 2022, he told host Kelleigh Bannen that while he released two albums before signing with Warner, he wasn’t intending on chasing a career in music.
“I would say that I didn’t really even mean to build [my career] up. I just kind of was making music with my buddies in the Navy barracks at one point,” he recalled. “And then I released two albums and then everyone resonated with the songs and then everyone went kind of crazy for them. So I’m like the luckiest guy in the world. I don’t really deserve any of it, but it’s been an absolute blast.”
Had No Intention Of Leaving The Navy
The 27-year-old added that while in the Navy, he had no intention of leaving until his gunner helped him see things in a different way.
“I wanted to be in the Navy… love the Navy… love the military [and] I love being American,” he reflected. “But my gunner at the time, he’s from Nashville actually, Gunner Pease. He looked at me one day and he is like, ‘Dude, you have to do this. If you don’t do this, millions of people who strive every day to do this are going to be disappointed in the fact that you wasted this chance.’ And he saved my…yeah, he saved my butt. He looked at me and said that. And I was like, ‘You know what? You’re right.’ And he actually got me honorably discharged from the Navy because he knew that if I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t be helping people and getting them through their lives with songwriting. But I was meant for something different I guess.”
Zach Bryan recently announced a massive 2024 trek, dubbed the Quittin Time Tour, which is set to kick off with back-to-back performances at United Center in Chicago, Illinois on March 6 and 7 before embarking on a cross-country journey. The Quittin’ Time Tour ’24 find Zach Bryan visiting stadiums and major arenas throughout North America. The tour will wrap up in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, with back-to-back shows at the BOK Center on December 13 and 14.
The Quittin Time Tour also features an impressive lineup of supporting acts, including The War and Treaty, Turnpike Troubadours, Mt. Joy and SunDown47, The Middle East, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Turnpike Troubadours, Sheryl Crow, Sierra Ferrell, Matt Maeson, and Levi Turner on select dates.
Zach Bryan’s Self-Titled Album
The 2024 Quittin Time Tour comes in support of his fourth full-length studio album, Zach Bryan, which arrived on August 25 via Warner Records.
The self-produced project features 16 tracks, including the fan-favorite tune “Overtime,” as well as four collaborations. “Hey Driver” features The War And Treaty alongside Bryan, “Holy Roller” includes Sierra Ferrell as a guest, “I Remember Everything” showcases Kacey Musgraves, and “Spotless” finds The Lumineers joining forces with Bryan.
“Really proud to call the writing and production on somethin’ all mine,” Bryan captioned his reveal on social media. “Thank y’all for your patience, I didn’t make this album to appease people who will never be happy anyways, I made it for my people.”
This release marks Bryan’s second album with Warner Records, succeeding 2022’s American Heartbreak. The latter achieved Platinum certification and maintained a position within the U.S. top 10 for more than a year following its initial debut.
Included in that album was Bryan’s chart-topping hit “Something in the Orange,” which just concluded an impressive streak of 65 continuous weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. This achievement solidified the tune as the longest-running country single by a male artist on the chart to date.
Before joining forces with Warner, Bryan independently released two albums: DeAnn in 2019 and Elisabeth in 2020.
For a full list of Zach Bryan’s upcoming tour dates, click HERE.
