Heartland senior Zach Miller, who now goes by his stage name Jackson Wayne, has had a “rush” of a senior year juggling school, extracurricular activities, and jump-starting his country music career.
Like most typical seniors at Heartland Community School, Zach Miller has been busy sorting out college and scholarship applications, financial aid packages, and SAT scores— trying to map out his life at age 17. It’s a bit overwhelming for any senior to answer that age-old question, “What are your plans?” But for Zach, who has already started his country music career, it’s a bit more complicated.
Zach, aka Jackson Wayne (we will explain that later), just released his second single song, “Doin’ the Dang Thing,” you can click on his Facebook page or Spotify to hear it! It was only a year ago that Zach started as a young kid just wanting to play some gigs as a side hustle to make some extra cash. It’s turned into something much bigger.
Last April, Zach performed at a fireman’s benefit in Fairmont when he got “noticed.”
“I opened for the Kyle Sayler Band, and afterward, they sent some video of me and a few cover demos to Luke Mills. He lives in Holdrege and is a singer/songwriter and recording artist with a production company called the Fijack Coalition.”
He called Zach, told him he could see a lot of potential in him, and explained what he could do for him if he signed a contract with Fijack. “It was one of the best phone calls I’ve ever had. I felt zero pressure and wanted to give it some thought, but I quickly decided to give it a shot.”
Mills and his partner C.R. Pendleton have been working with Zach, helping him learn about the music industry. Zach has appreciated their willingness to assist him with any questions or issues he has figuring out the best way to navigate his musical journey. “Luke is a cool guy and a strong Christian with plenty of experience in the country music world to guide me,” said Zach.
Since Zach is only 17, his contract specifies that everything he does has to be approved by his parents. Zach lives with his parents, Travis and Melanie, just south of Henderson, who strongly support his musical journey. His sister Madison is also musically talented and is completing her music instruction degree at UNK. She will be applying for a vocal music instructor job this spring.
“It seems like a rush since it happened so fast. In September, I signed a contract with Luke’s company, Fijack Entertainment Coalition, and soon released my first single, “Sunset.”
It was Heartland’s vocal director, Lynn Hall, who actually came up with the idea for “Sunset.” “Mr. Hall shared his inspiration for a song about how even when we’re going through hard times or difficulties, we always have those great Nebraska sunsets. Mr. Hall had given up on ever writing the song himself but wanted me to run with it. I talked to Luke and C.R., and they sat down and wrote the music and lyrics for the song –it’s done pretty well streaming,” said Zach.
One of the first things that happened after signing his contract was the name change. They quickly found out there was another country music artist in Nebraska named Zach Miller, who had a strong following. From Zach Miller, he became Jackson Wayne.
“My middle name is Wayne, and it’s my maternal grandfather’s name, who also played the guitar. My parents came up with Jackson after they told me that Jackson was the original first name they had picked out for me but didn’t after close friends used it for their son.”
While all this has been happening, Zach is still focused on his life as a student at Heartland. He’s involved in several extracurricular activities—chorus, band, jazz band, FFA, golf, and the Robotics team. And what about college?
He will receive one of the coveted Regents scholarships to attend either the University of Nebraska or the University at Kearney. Still, he’s not yet decided about his plans on whether to accept the Regents.
“I really want to major in animal science, and K-State is a great place for that. I’m weighing all my options right now, so we’ll see,” said Zach. Even if he would end up in Kansas, he’d still be traveling back to Holdrege to record and work with Luke Mills every few months.
Recently he got the opportunity through Fijack to appear in Kearney at a country music showcase event at Joe’s Honky Tonk with many other up-and-coming country music artists.
“It was a two-day event, and I performed on their acoustic night, a pretty barstool-like atmosphere. It was an awesome event for me because I got to spend some time jamming with a bunch of other accomplished artists in what they call the green room afterward. I knew then these are the kind of people I wanted to be around!”
Locally, Jackson Wayne has performed gigs at the Bulldog Roadhouse in Bradshaw, the Heritage Park, county fairs, and benefit events. He’s working on getting something lined up for performing at the new Loading Chute restaurant in Hampton.
Earlier this fall, he had an awesome experience at McCook’s Coyote Country Music Showdown. “I heard about their competition, and I was led to believe if you won, you’d have a chance to perform at the State Fair. So I entered and ended up winning not only my age division but the People’s Choice Award and the Overall Winner. Whoa! I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t get to perform at the State Fair, but I came home with a few trophies and a big check that I didn’t expect.”
It’s hard to believe that Zach woke up on Christmas morning only five years ago and discovered a new bass guitar under the tree. His dad decided to give him a bass guitar and his sister an electric one to see what they could do. He quickly found out he was a natural, and by the end of the day, he had a rough version down of Queen’s “Another One Bit the Dust”.
His musical journey took another step forward after Matt Siebert, a local guitar player, took him to the Guitar Center in Omaha, where he purchased his first electric guitar about four years ago. Besides a bit of help from Matt, he picked up playing the electric guitar faster than the bass and was off and running.
There are several types of country music, and Jackson Wayne calls his style “retro country,” capturing more of the classic sound of the 80s and 90s like Alan Jackson. He already has recorded his third single but will wait to release it later this spring.
In the meantime, it’s time to do all those senior things. Besides finishing up the scholarship application process, he’s begun practicing for Heartland’s upcoming “Guys and Dolls” musical production. Of course, it’s no surprise he will be playing the lead role of Sky Masterson in the musical that will be performed at Heartland in late March.
Jackson Wayne’s energy and enthusiasm are inspirational, as well as the music he’s making at such a young age. Keep your eye out for Jackson Wayne, and follow him on his Facebook page to catch his latest live gig and next release!
