Warren Zeiders was just 21 years old when he released his debut single ‘Ride the Lightning,' catapulting him from a collegiate star athlete to a rising star on the stage. Following the success of his 717 Tapes releases and a compilation album, Zeiders continued his momentum with ‘Pretty Little Poison,' garnering his first number one at radio. At just 24, he has already established himself as Nashville's newest headliner, appealing to a generation of music fans who embrace a blend of country, rock, and Christian music. Raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and later relocating to Tennessee, Zeiders' diverse musical influences shaped his unique sound and powerful voice.
Belief and dedication have always been central to Zeiders' life. From singing gospel hymns in his childhood church to becoming a star lacrosse player, his faith and discipline were unwavering. The sport taught him accountability and hard work, qualities that would later translate to his music career. After suffering concussions that ended his lacrosse journey, Zeiders turned to music, learning guitar and drawing inspiration from artists like Luke Combs and Chris Stapleton. A viral TikTok video of him covering ‘Tennessee Whiskey' marked the beginning of his rapid rise to fame. As his online presence grew, so did his fan base, leading to millions of streams and views even before his first live performance.
By the time he played his 100th show at the Stagecoach Festival in 2023, Zeiders had amassed 1.4 billion TikTok views and 1 billion audio streams, solidifying his place in the modern country music scene. He is following up his ‘Pretty Little Poison' album with new album ‘Relapse' in July before heading out on a huge tour with Jelly Roll and crossing the Atlantic in early 2025 for European dates. We were thrilled to talk to him all about it.
Thanks for your time today, Warren, we know just what a busy guy you are. Also, congratulations on your recent successes – what a great couple of years you have had. Is it passing in a blur or are you finding time to mark the milestones?
You know, I think I'm very close to my family and having my parents being so very involved in what I'm doing allows me to take the big moments and cherish them because they help me do that. I'm so competitive with myself I tend to get focused on the next steps and what I need to do to keep pushing forward .
For instance, last summer, I played my first stadium show, opening up for George Strait and I come off stage to see both my parents in tears and then I start to cry because the import of what I'd just achieved was brought into stark reality by their reaction.
What would you say has been your biggest milestone moment so far?
It's tough to say. There has been numerous milestones along the way – playing my Canadian tour this past spring and seeing one of the most rabid fan bases I've ever seen was cool. Celebrating my first number one on Country radio was also a great accolade. Playing the CMT awards and accepting the award for male music video of the year.
I'm a firm believer in accepting your victories and being grateful for them but I also believe that people that win are happy but are never truly satisfied because there is always something else to acheive – the next step, the next goal – and I am very much like that.
One of the things I love about your sound is the rock edge that you have. What did you grow up listening to and when did you realise you wanted to do this for a living?
My love for music began in the church. I was raised in a Christian household and I attest all of my success to the good lord above – I believe that this is what I was put on this earth to do. From my mom's side, it was a lot of Country music. Garth Brooks, Shania Twain and a lot of the 90s artists. I also listened to a lot of Christian music. My first ever concert was going to see Jeremy Camp with my dad.
There's also that side of my dad which my grandmother on his side would call ‘devil music!' She was being funny but it was stuff like Motley Crue, ACDC, Quiet Riot, Guns and Roses, you know? Pretty much everything in that rock world.
I was also across the board in terms of listening to pretty much anything. I love Justin Beiber. I love rap music too. I love Drake. Jack Harlow is great – I'm just a lover of music as a whole although, as you can tell by the sound of my music, rock was a heavy influence in my life. Being an athlete it was predominantly what I listened to before hitting the field and in the warm ups.
Would it annoy you if I said my favourite song on your ‘Pretty Little Posion' album was ‘Inside Your Head' because that was the only one you didn't write!! You must have had the same reaction as I did when you first heard it, given you went on to record it!
(laughing) I've heard that a couple of times from people and I'm flattered. If I'm going to cut a song I need to believe in it and that one happened to be a 13 year old Chris Stapleton song. Whispers around town when I put the song out where very much, like, so many people had turned that song down because they'd heard Stapleton's original demo and were, like, ‘I can't contend with this at all!' (laughing) My competitive nature said that whilst I wasn't going to do it better than Chris, he is someone that I idolise, I wanted to do my own best version and interpretation of it. I still believe, to this day, that it is one of my best vocal performances and it sounds pretty awesome.
Are there any songs on ‘Pretty Little Poison' that have gone under the radar a little, that people like me aren't asking you enough about? ‘Pittsburgh Steel' and ‘West Texas Weather' are both awesome songs that I feel don't get talked about enough.
‘West Texas Weather' wasn't huge hit on streaming but when we play it live – I recently just took it out to accommodate all the new music we have out right now – everybody on my team was saying how hard the song hit live with the crowds and the fans. It isn't a monster streaming song but everybody sings it word for word live. That proved to me that the real fans are going to know your music even if the song isn't huge on streaming.
‘Pittsburgh Steel' is a testament to me being born and raised in Pennsylvania. When I first started in music everyone thought I was a Texas boy or from down south. I really wanted to make a point, hence the ‘717 Tapes,' the first project I put out, and market myself as a guy from Pennsylvania and wave a flag for all the people up there. You don't gotta be from the south to be in Country music, right?
‘Relapse' is coming out next month. A new album hot on the heels of ‘Pretty Little Poison.' Are these new songs or songs you've had in your locker for a while now?
A lot of the songs have been written pretty recently. I'm always writing. As you know from what I've said I'm always ‘happy but not satisfied' so the moment ‘Pretty Little Poison' came out I was pushing to record some new songs. The way that I have built success is by listening to my fans and continually feeding that base with new music and content.
The reality is that we live in a world right now where you can drop a record and within two weeks people are asking you when the next song is coming out. It's not just the music aspect it's things like TV and movies too. People watch something on a streaming platform and need to know when season 2 or season 3 is coming out. I love the point we are in in music right now though – I love writing and continually perfecting the craft of it and there is so much great music that I'm working on coming down the line from me that the fans have yet to hear!
This next record is going to be so exciting because I view it as three different kinds of facets where I'm at right now. You listen to a song like ‘Relapse' or ‘Betrayal' or the vibes of ‘Sins so Sweet' and you can hear who I am. There's a song on there called ‘Intoxicated' which is a more rock influenced song, in the pocket of feeling like a ‘Pretty Little Poison 2.0' kind of vibe. But then you have me going back to my roots of acoustic music, like the ‘717 Tapes' on tracks like ‘Addictions.' It's going to be fun.
The title that intrigues me is a ‘Death of a Cowboy.' Any hints on the sound or vibe on that track?
I'm just gonna leave that one up to interpretation for now. It's a cool thing because the way I feel right now is that I want my fans to be thinking about what my next move might be. Where is he going? What's the next steps and there's some songs on the new album that will show a lot of new sides to me – be it a fun side or a more vulnerable side.
I can hear you experimenting with your sound a little with your sound on ‘Relapse.' That drum beat and the rhythm is new for you on that track.
For sure. That tempo is different. I've been working with a new producer here in Nashville called Mike Elizondo. He's worked with some of the best in the business from Twenty One Pilots to Eminem to Dr Dre to Brothers Osborne, he's done it all. He has an amazing gift and he and I really hit it off.
To cap it all off you are going out on tour with Jelly Roll in the fall for a huge tour. That must be the hottest ticket in town?
(laughing) Man, it's going to be the biggest tour of the fall! I've talked to Jelly a little bit but we haven't had chance to really dive in and get to know each other as yet. We've played festivals together and I've sang a couple of songs with him. I was shooting a music video at the same location he was at last summer and he came up to me and was, like, straight up ‘You need to come out on tour with me!' (laughing)
He's got so many people who love his music, who love what he stands for and what he's doing. I think he's huge right now and the tour will be an amazing opportunity for me to get infront of 15 to 20 thousand people a night in the direct support slot for 40 shows!
The two of you do remind me a little of each other in terms of the authenticity that I think you both have.
Thank you. I do agree with that. I try my best to be as authentic as I can. It's a testament to how I was raised and the people that I have around me that I trust and love. Those people keep me grounded and keep me the same guy that I was growing up. What I have achieved so far and what I want to achieve hasn't changed me at my core it's just heightened me and given me a platform to speak out in a place and a generation where so many people across all walks of life put on a facade.
I want to have real moments with my fans where they see me. I want to talk to them, play them unreleased music and really connect with who they are and what they want from me as an artist and as a person. I want to build a following of people who will be fans for life and you can only do that by being authentic and real because they will see through you if you don't. I want the kids of the future to be telling people that their dads played Warren Zeiders in the car growing up just like I've been able to tell you what my dad played and what we went to see live.
You are coming over to Europe in February for your first international shows. How much are you looking forward to those?
I am so pumped. I know there has been a demand for it. I try my best to read comments and pay attention to what my fans are saying so I know that we have a lot of fans over in the UK and Europe. I was so excited to be able to post that we were coming over. I'm super excited to connect with another new fan base and get face to face with them.
From what I've seen with the likes of Brothers Osborne, Ashley McBryde and Kip Moore I think that tour could be the beginning of a very loyal and beautiful relationship.
I completely agree with that. Kip is such a sweetheart – he and I have had a chance to connect a few times. We are sometimes at the gym at the same time and we've had a chance to chat. He has a great head on his shoulders and I know he's had a lot of success in Europe by putting the hard yards in over there. For me, talking about those goals – I want to build success in the States and Canada but I also want to build success in Europe, in the UK and in Australia too. I want to show as much love as I can to people all over the world.
Check out the pre-orders for Warren Zeiders' new album ‘Relapse' here and grab a ticket to see him in the UK while you can!
