“Out So So So Soon”: Zach Bryan Confirms He's Replacing John Moreland with J.R. Carroll on New Version of ‘Memphis; The Blues’

Zach Bryan has taken to his Instagram Stories to reveal he'll be re-releasing ‘Memphis; The Blues’ with JR Carroll, just a matter of weeks after the ‘Something in the Orange’ hitmaker confirmed he'd be removing John Moreland from the track.

Originally arriving as a duet with Moreland on Bryan's lauded 2024 album, The Great American Bar Scene, the song was removed from streaming platforms last month following a strange, out-of-the-blue spat between the two Oklahoma natives.

When it was announced that Zach Bryan had signed a new record deal with Warner Records and sold his publishing catalogue as part of a multi-million dollar deal, John Moreland surprised fans by sharing his two-cents on the news, “$350 M is a lot of money to pay for the f***** off-brand version of me. Y‘all have a great day”.

Some assumed he was joking, but Zach Bryan made it clear this was no laughing matter, “Yooo just saw this from an artist I’ve always respected and supported. Not trying to be dramatic but refuse to have anyone with a problem with me on my records. Replacing Memphis the Blues. If it goes down for a bit just know this is the reason!”

The ‘28’ singer-songwriter went on to underline how Moreland's critical comments had hit him out of left-field, “No hard feelings! Confused as s**t, Tulsans look out for Tulsans!...Last thing I say on it! Not partial to arguing with butt hurt grown men”.

Following this, John Moreland returned to social media to double-down on his denunciation of Zach Bryan, “Just a really big artist from where I’m from asking me to be on a record - cool. At this point I’ve hung out with him five, six times. I don’t like this motherf*****. Am I supposed to be upset? If I was asked to be on the album today I wouldn’t do it. I don’t want to be on an album with a dude who is a d***head to my wife and my friends right in front of me every time I see him. I don’t want to be on an album with a dude who I’ve heard tell borderline racist jokes more than once. I don’t want to be on an album with a dude who brings a 19-year old girl in the bar, and then when they tell him she can’t be in there, looks at me like I’m supposed to have his f***** back. I don’t like that person. That’s who thinks I’m an a**hole? Fine. As far as I’m concerned, getting kicked off a Zach Bryan album is way f****** cooler than being on a Zach Bryan album”.

Then, another artist perceived by many to hail from the Zach Bryan school of stripped-back, folk-infused songwriting, Drayon Farley, backed up John Moreland's portrayal of the ‘Revival’ crooner, recalling alleged instances where Bryan had made flirtatious comments to his wife and had threatened to end artists’ careers.

At one point, it looked like this was about to descend into a full-blown, Drake vs. Everybody-style beef, but no artists have since come out and jumped on the anti-Zach Bryan train.

Fans of Bryan will be pleased to know that ‘Memphis; The Blues’ will be re-released “soon”, with the country-folk titan outlining alongside a photo of J.R. Carroll and some steaks, “Memphis; The Blues feat @jrvcarroll is out so so so soon. Family is EATING”.

Endearingly, Carroll has reshared Bryan's post, admitting that he's feel apprehensive, “Cats out of the bag I am so nervous pls don't be mean to me I tried my best”.

Although J.R. Carroll has been a longstanding friend of Zach Bryan and a member of his touring band, with the duo often sharing acoustic videos via socials, this will mark the first time Carroll is appearing on one of Bryan's songs as a featured vocalist.

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Featured photo by Laura Ord