Meet Zach Wilson | Keyboardist and Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zach Wilson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zach, why did you pursue a creative career?
I’ve always been into music. It was introduced to me at a young age, and I just followed up with it and eventually found the love for it. In learning the fundamentals, my creativity started to grow and in watching other musicians and artists be creative and seeing them express themselves through different outlets, I wanted to follow my favorites and do the same thing.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
So I started playing piano at age 5 and really knew I wanted to do it for real maybe late middle school/early high school. I went to college to major in music performance. After graduating, I decided to really start my artistic career. I crowdfunded and recorded my first album “The Introduction” in 2021, released it the next year. In 2023, I did another album recording, but I did at as a live recording. The full album, entitled ‘Keep Pressing On’ was recorded over the course of 2 live shows with full audiences. That’s probably my most proud achievement to date. With overseeing everything in that process and having everyone involved so willing to help out with the vision and everyone who attended, I’m very grateful everything turned out well.

Of course through all of these times, there were challenges along the way. In lessons, I wasn’t always quick to pick up on things. In school, things pile up so it’s hard to keep focus on everything equally. In working on the album, you hope that people enjoy it, that there’s enough budget to get everyone taken care of, but through all that, I just kept pressing on and everything worked out.

I hope that through me following the paths of my favorite artists and me doing it in my own way, it can inspire the next artist/musician/creative that it’s possible to do, and to not get too attached to the numbers too much. While the numbers may not reflect the measurement of “success” to some of your favorites, the fact that you went out and attempted to complete something that is important to you already makes you successful .

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
During that week long trip, we’d go see live music most nights, there’s TEN ATL, Northside Tavern, someone might have a show at Buteco, and even the major music venues might have a concert as well. We’d hit up Moods Music in Little 5 Points. We’d go to Ponce City Market, since there’s so much variety of what to eat over there. There’s something here for everyone!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to everyone who saw and currently sees my potential. Whether it be family or people who have seen me perform in any capacity, it’s greatly appreciated. Huge shoutout to all of my instructors. Mark Mitchell, Stephen Thornton, Jay Adams and Tyrone Jackson. I wouldn’t be the musician I am without the 4 of them taking the time out to teach me what they know. Also, shoutout to the Otis Redding Foundation in Macon GA. They really helped expose me to all the amazing possibilities there are to a career in music.

Website: https://zachwkeyz.com

Instagram: @zachwkeyz

Youtube: https://Youtube.com/@zachwkeyz

Image Credits
All of those images are by Eric Tolliver