Zach Bryan calls Bruce Springsteen 'people's champ,' solves Oak Island Jersey mystery

So Zach Bryan, tell us how you really feel about having Bruce Springsteen on your new album, “The Great American Bar Scene”?

“He was so comforting and kind that it didn’t even come across me to be nervous, the people’s champ truly ([blank] my pants),” posted Bryan on X on July 8. The country star took fans' questions on "The Great American Bar Scene” in what he called a “shooting from the hip” session.

The song Springsteen appears on is “Sandpaper,” a smoldering country burner about desire and the passing of time that recalls the Boss' classic, “I’m on Fire.”

Springsteen joined Bryan, 27, on stage March 27 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where they performed “Sandpaper” with Bryan's band.

Zach Bryan is shown performing June 29 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
Zach Bryan is shown performing June 29 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

The show was part of Bryan's Quittin’ Time Tour, which plays Aug. 6 and 7 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Bryan, an Oklahoma native, also solved a mystery over the Jersey reference on the new song “Oak Island.”

The majority of Bryan fans had assumed the track was about Oak Island, North Carolina, but it actually refers to the Oak Island Yard train depot in the Ironbound section of Newark.

“We were playing in Brooklyn. I was living on a bus in parking lot in Secaucus, NJ, for two days. We passed a shipyard called Oak Island,” explained Bryan when a fan asked him about the backstory of the song.

Oak Island Yard, located near the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, was built in 1903.

It's very much an active train depot. It’s visible from Route 1-9, and the New Jersey Turnpike — and listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.

More: Bruce Springsteen is on new Zach Bryan album 'The Great American Bar Scene,' out July 4

In case you're wondering, the TV show “The Curse of Oak Island” has nothing to do with Oak Island in New Jersey.

"The Great American Bar Scene" dropped July 4.

Bryan’s tour was a hit in New Jersey. Two shows at Prudential Center in Newark broke that venue's attendance record, with 18,641 fans on March 14 and 19,151 fans on March 15.

More: This Asbury Park music legend likes what he sees at Springwood Park, West Side

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Zach Bryan calls Springsteen people's champ, solves NJ mystery