Fresh rising artist Zachary Knowles has begun turning heads in the indie-R&B realm. The Texas-bred songwriter/instrumentalist has spent his entire life making music and brings velvety vocals to his newest offering "cherry wine," the focus track of his forthcoming magnolia EP. The 5-track EP, due out this May, follows the release of Knowles' debut feelings EP (2018) and is proof that pop can be personal and Knowles is one of its most intriguing and capable emerging song crafters to date.
Signed to the prestigious FADER Label (home to Clairo, Matt & Kim), opening for notable artists like Alec Benjamin, and racking up millions of streams on DSP's are just a few of the accomplishments on this newcomer's ever-growing résumé. Knowles has seen praise from notable tastemakers like HITS Magazine, Ones To Watch, Variance Magazine alongside spots on Spotify's New Music Friday. Knowles is here with his stunning single "cherry wine," a simply sweet and soul-quenching tune. Featuring just light percussion and an acoustic guitar, Knowles shines in this track with his silky vocals, soaring falsetto, and minimal production. The candied chorus, "You're sweet like cherry wine, something so divine, I can't enough of you, even if I tried," is so effortlessly addicting. Knowles has an aptitude for crafting heartfelt songs and relaying timeless messages in an original way. On the single he explains, "The meaning behind 'cherry wine' is super personal. I wrote about what life looked like before I was dating the girl I love. Before we started dating I was crazy about her (at the age of 14 haha that's crazy to say) but didn't know if she felt the same. I wanted to capture what that time of my life felt like. 'cherry wine' is most definitely a love song, and in the end it all worked out. I'm happy I'm able to share this moment in time. It's a really special song." Born and raised in Magnolia, Texas, Knowles took to music at an early age, when his parents gifted him a light-up keyboard in the first grade. "I started teaching myself songs on there, but I always kept it to myself," he explains, which is a bit of an understatement; for a while, his musical performance skills were limited to singing in the car with his mom-that is, until seventh grade, when he decided to perform Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts" at a school talent show. "I always had a fear of being in front of people, so I was terrified," he recalls. "But after that, people took notice of the fact that I sang." It didn't take long for Knowles to run with his newfound talents. In high school he honed in on his craft - diving deeper into music, continuing to learn to play piano and developing his songwriting skills. Eventually Knowles transitioned into writing his own material, and he was pleasantly surprised at the online reaction to his own work as it racked up tens of thousands of streams on SoundCloud almost immediately. "I fell in love with making music. I'd come home from school and write as much stuff as I could." In freshman year of college, he set a goal to release something properly and ended up with a series of well-received singles that led to a full EP of music.
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