Zach Bryan performed his unreleased song “Sandpaper” during his concert in New Jersey on Friday (March 15).
Toward the end of his 27-song set at Newark’s Prudential Center, the country star treated fans to the live debut of the new song, which he teased earlier in the year on social media.
In January, Bryan teased 45 seconds of the then-unfinished “Sandpaper” on acoustic guitar. During his Quittin’ Time Tour stop on Friday, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter unveiled the full four minutes of the song, which features synths, extra guitars and background vocals.
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“You’re like sandpaper,” Bryan sings on the track, which is believed to be about his girlfriend, Brianna LaPaglia, according to Rolling Stone. “Baby you’re trying to smooth me out.”
The artist’s NJ concert also featured a performance of “I Remember Everything,” his Grammy-winning song with Kacey Musgraves. The track debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Sept. 9, 2023, earning both Musgraves and Bryan their first Hot 100 chart-topper. It also debuted atop the Hot Country Songs chart, where it ruled for 20 weeks (through February 2024).
Bryan’s Quittin’ Time Tour launched with three shows at Chicago’s United Center (March 5-7), before trekking across the country with stops in New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee and more. Among the openers on the tour are Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The War and Treaty, Sierra Ferrell and Sheryl Crow.
Bryan was named Billboard’s Top New Artist of 2023, landing No. 1s on both the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart and Hot 100 songs survey. Bryan, who charts on both the rock and country charts, is the first country act to be the year’s Top New Artist since Billboard began compiling the Top New Artists category, combining performance on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100, in 1977.
Watch Bryan perform “Sandpaper” in New Jersey in a fan-captured video clip here.