‘smooth me out’
Country star previously teased the track with a 45-second snippet on social media in January
Zach Bryan gave his unreleased song “Sandpaper” its live debut Friday night as his Quittin Time tour rolled into Newark, New Jersey.
Two-thirds of the way through his Prudential Center concert, Bryan revealed the “Sandpaper” surprise to fans, which arrived less than two months after he first teased a snippet of the track on social media in January.
At that time, Bryan shared only 45 seconds of the in-the-works “Sandpaper” on acoustic guitar, but Friday night in Newark, the song — believed to be an ode to his girlfriend Brianna LaPaglia — appeared fully formed and four minutes, augmented by synths, additional guitars and background vocals. “You’re like sandpaper,” Bryan sings. “Baby you’re trying to smooth me out.”
The prolific Bryan — he’s already released over 20 songs in the past year when combining his self-titled LP and the Boys of Faith EP — seems to be gearing up for his next album as he’s been road-testing some new tracks on his Quittin Time tour, including the now-staples “The Great American Bar Scene” and “Better Days,” both of which debuted when the trek kicked off earlier this month in Chicago.
Earlier this week, Bryan was among the country stars that landed multiple nominations at the 2024 CMA Music Awards. He’s up for Video of the Year for the Matthew McConaughey-starring “Nine Ball” as well as Breakthrough Male Video of the Year for “Oklahoma Smokeshow,” Bryan’s first-ever CMA Music Awards nominations.