Local singer-songwriter, Zach Churchill is a rising star you will want to keep on your radar. A frequent performer at Inn at the Mission SJC, Trevor's at the Tracks, and The Ranch in Laguna Beach, he is quickly growing a substantial following throughout the West Coast music scene.
With an expressively vulnerable voice, he breathes life, love, and gratitude into absorbing narratives. Sophisticated arrangements, inventive modulations, and superlative musicality are hallmarks of the Orange County native’s debut collection, Heartbreak & Hope. 11 songs serve as musical milestones commemorating a ten-year journey through his twenties -- a decade that he barely survived.
And Zach Churchill pulls no punches: His lead single “Bartender” chronicles a harrowing heroin overdose. “The person I’m singing to saved my life,” Zach explains. “He was closing up at 2:00 a.m. at the venue when I overdosed. Everyone was gone, but he checked the bathroom because the light was on. The door was locked, so he got the key and found me. If he had just gone home, I’d be dead.” In the hospital, after a medically induced coma, Zach was forced to face his family and himself. “You hit your bottom when you stop digging,” he says. “The song is all about my saying ‘I’m done.’”
On a recent journey, Zach traveled The Camino de Santiago, an ancient European pilgrim route leading to the tomb of St. James in northwest Spain, a sacred path with a profound history. “I was surrounded by people who were on the pilgrimage for spiritual reasons, this great family,” he recalls. “With the right attitude, every day of my life can be an adventure like The Camino.”
The concluding words in his title track, “Heartbreak & Hope” impart this benediction: “Thank you for listening/I love you, goodnight.” Inspired by the hope he references, Zach is now a father--facing his demons with clear-eyed courage. Across this span of songs, his testimony is offered with transcendent sincerity. “The failed relationships, the loss of people, the search for identity,” he concludes. “It’s all real and it’s my story.”
