MAPLEWOOD, Mo. – Zach Bryan has taken the music world by storm. In early May, he and his band blew the doors off Enterprise Center with two sold-out shows.
Thursday night, he sent his legion of fans into a frenzy, announcing on social media his new album, “The Great American Bar Scene” will drop July 4. The news included a special surprise. Bryan selected less than two dozen bars across the country to get early access to some of the new music. Among them is Saratoga Lanes in Maplewood.
“His whole message of ‘The Great American Bar Scene’ is truly what we are,” Paige Barton said.
Barton would know. Her family’s owned Saratoga Lane since 1986, and this might be the biggest thing that’s happened here in the nearly four decades since they took over.
“Extremely shocked. I didn’t even know he would know about this place. I got a voicemail. I saw the transcript and it said Zach Bryan. I was like, this is messed up. Siri or whatever didn’t translate this right. Listened to it and it was his manager. He sounded like the nicest guy, and he was like, ‘We want to do something for you guys. We really like you; we like what you’re about,’ It gives me goosebumps,” Barton said.
But how, out of hundreds of bars in St. Louis and thousands across the U.S., did Bryan pick Saratoga?
“What his manager said was some of his friends told him about Saratoga when he was in town for his concert and he wanted to come in. I guess he wasn’t able to, but I think he looked us up, heard some things and now it’s happening, which is wild!” Barton said.
Saratoga Lanes will help Bryan share his new music with the masses. They are planning a pair of special events for June 28 and 29.
“We know it’ll be new music that hasn’t been out yet and we’ll get a good amount of it. That’s all we know. Lots of surprises still for me, so that’s all I know. Maybe he’ll show up,” Barton said.
From the smell of cigarette smoke that hits your nose when you open the door to the old-school pool tables and bowling lanes, Saratoga Lanes has a vintage vibe right up Bryan’s alley.
“I know he likes to play pool, maybe smoke a cigarette, drink Budweiser, which is mostly what we serve. Usually, it’s pretty cold if things are working right,” Barton said.
Bryan himself might say those are the perfect ingredients for an “all-night revival.”
“I hope he knows what he’s doing for Saratoga. No one has ever done anything like this for us,” said Barton.
Tickets to the early release parties for Zach Bryan’s new album at Saratoga Lanes will be sold online. Saratoga will release more information June 24 on their social media channels.