I accidentally stumbled upon Zach DuBois' original song "Back Home Again (Indiana)" on YouTube this past summer and out of curiosity pressed play. The song instantly sparked an interest and I watched nearly all of the singer's videos, most of them being covers of popular country songs from artists like Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, and Kenny Chesney. His videos had thousands of hits and I wondered how I had never heard of this kid before.

I don't usually go crazy over YouTube stars, but I thought there was something special about Zach. Although I loved his renditions of songs like "I Don't Want This Night to End," and "Fly Over States," I was pleased to see that he also was a songwriter with several original songs.

Now Zach's released a full-length album titled Destination Unknown, full of original songs that prove he's got the songwriting chops to make it in Nashville. His songs are full of traditional country themes of home, love, and wondering where life will take you next, but I think Zach has an original voice and talent that would be valuable to country music. He can appeal to the young audience with the perfect tailgating song "Beer for Breakfast" and "Destination Unknown" for that college student that is embarking on the next step in life. But he also contains that essential universal appeal with songs like "Home to Me" and "Forever in Your Eyes." Most of all, the album has that special autobiographical characteristic. The music really tells his story and you can get a sense of who he when you listen. It's personal--a characteristic, I feel, that is what's missing from a lot of music these days.    

Country fans, fellow Hoosiers, check this guy out. Maybe I'm a little biased since he and I are both not only Hoosiers, but also apparently from the same northern region of the state. I relate to him and his music on that level--it reminds me of home. We're both small-town Indiana kids chasing our dreams in music. But no matter how biased my opinion may be, I hope to see Zach make it further in the country industry. It would be great to have this Indiana boy represent our  home state in Nashville.