Zach Person is getting back to what he loves. When trying to create a body of work and make a living with it, artists can find themselves falling into the expectation of what can sell.

“I started writing, or trying to write, a lot of stuff that was what I thought people would want to hear or thought would be commercially successful,” said Person.

As he was nearing the release of his first album, he found himself returning to some of the classic rock covers he played during gigs as a young guitarist. Playing again for the joy of it. In 2019, Person saw a band doing that same thing at Austin City Limits.

He said to himself, “This is like the Zeppelin covers that I’m playing — that I’m having fun doing. These guys are doing their originals that sound similar and everybody loves it.”

That’s when he decided to change his perspective.

“I went back to finding the sounds that inspired me and writing the stuff that I wanted to play just as much as I wanted to play those other covers.”

Person lived in Moore County for about a decade before his family moved to Texas when he was 13. It’s here he fostered his love of that classic rock and blues sound. His early interest in music came through time at the Pinebluff skate park. At that time, he gravitated towards punk and heavy rock. When he turned nine, he got a First Act beginner guitar. His love was immediately apparent.

“My mom realized I wasn’t going to put it down ever. So she said, ‘Well, we need to get you lessons.’”

These days, in Moore County you go to Casino Guitars if you want to strum a chord, but in 2007 the shop didn’t exist. Person still got the experience. His lessons came at the hands of first James Villone and then Baxter Clement. Through that training, Person’s love of guitar only deepened. He began to discover the blues and classic rock. He began to learn from the guitarists that set the stage for the music and guitarists that have come after them.

Person released his most recent album, “Let’s Get Loud,” in March of this year. Those influences are prevalent throughout the album. You can see some of that in “Wild,” a track he developed through inspiration from the 1968 Muddy Waters song “She’s Alright.”

“I was kind of imagining like a metaphor for falling in love and into like a wild sort of love,” Person said. “I was picturing what the visual was in that Muddy Waters song where he’s out there in the army fighting or something and thinking about the person he had at home.”

Getting back to his roots has invigorated his performances. That’s evident when asked which of the tracks he likes to play the most.

“Hmm. There’s a song from the new album called ‘Feel It.’ I think maybe, ‘Make It’ is another song that’s really been really fun,” he said.

Those are the two longest tracks on the album, at 5:54 and 7:12, respectively. It’s easy to see that this is a new beginning for the 27-year-old artist. His song-writing process shows how he’s grown.

“You come back; you have a more mature perspective on it – let that breathe and then come back and critique.”

That’s mirrored in his career. He now, as a more mature artist, has come back with a new perspective on the music that inspired him. He’s only going to get louder.

To catch up with Zach Person, you can find him on Instagram @ZachPerson or hear more of his music on YouTube