John Moreland Blasts “Dickhead” Zach Bryan After Instigating Beef

Zach Bryan and John Moreland are in some ways birds of a feather: two rugged roots-rock singer-songwriters from Tulsa, OK who’ve built up sturdy (in Bryan’s case, lucrative) careers operating at the outskirts of the Nashville country mainstream. The two men joined forces last year on “Memphis; The Blues” from Bryan’s album The Great American Bar Scene, putting Moreland under a bright spotlight alongside superstar guests like Bruce Springsteen and John Mayer. But now the bromance has fallen apart. To hear Moreland tell it, there never was a bromance.

A week ago, news broke that Bryan was selling his publishing rights to a new company called the Merrit Group and inking a new two-album record deal with Warner for a combined $350 million. Moreland responded to that news by posting an Instagram story with this text:

$350 M is a lot to pay
for the fuckin off-brand version of me
y’all have a great day

Bryan shared Moreland’s story to his own story with some added commentary of his own:

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! No hard feelings ! Confused as shit, Tulsans look out for Tulsans!

Bryan added one more message: “Last thing I say on it! Not partial to arguing with butt hurt grown men.” He did indeed have “Memphis; The Blues” removed from streaming services Friday; the song is currently greyed out and unplayable if you load up The Great American Bar Scene. In response to that move, Moreland shared another IG story Saturday, telling his followers, “Oh, guys, the Zachies are coming after me. They’re gonna ruin me. They’re gonna cancel my small-time folk-music career that I’ve had since they were in elementary school.” He also posted a video message explaining that he had never met Bryan when Bryan asked him to do a song together and that he’s been turned off by their handful of experiences together, insinuating that Bryan has been a “dickhead” to Moreland’s wife and friends and told “borderline racist jokes more than once.” Here’s what Moreland said:

OK, so I’ll just say one more thing about it and I’m gonna get back to my real life and let y’all have fun on the internet. When I was asked to be on that album, I did not know that dude. Never met him. Just a really big artist from where I’m from, asking me to be on a record. Cool. First time I met him, we recorded the song. Like, didn’t have the greatest impression, but it’s no big deal. Whatever, fine. Then we record the song. The album comes out like a month later. I had met him once at that point.

At this point, I’ve hung out with him five, six times. I don’t like this motherfucker. Like, am I supposed to be upset? Like, 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 dickhead 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 fucking back. I don’t like that person. I don’t like that person. That’s who thinks I’m an asshole? Fine. Far as I’m concerned, getting kicked off a Zach Bryan album is way cooler than being on a Zach Bryan album.

You can see archives of all this Instagram activity in a pair of X posts below.