With over 30,000 albums sold independently, and around 200 shows per year, Georgia’s Zac Brown Band was introduced to radio-friendly country fans with their number one single “Chicken Fried.” Their third album, The Foundation, in their fourth year together as a band, was released in November 2008. The band’s country sound has been praised as a home-grown take on island jams, bluegrass, and instrumental virtuosity.
‘Chicken Fried’
Previously recorded on their 2005 album Home Grown, the Zac Brown Band’s hit single “Chicken Fried” propelled the group onto the country charts, radio stations, and video channels. Their easy Georgia country sound has coupled with easy lyrics, simple vocals, and a celebration of life’s good things. Together, these have given the band a prominent spot on radio and television lineups.
The Zac Brown Band
The band features lead vocalist and guitar player Zac Brown; bassist John Hopkins; fiddler Jimmy De Martinit; organist Coy Bowles; and drummer Chris Fryar. With a group of finely honed musicians, the group combines the virtuoso guitar playing of Brown, with fast–paced picking and fiddling. Brown boasts that, “Everybody in my band is able to burn his instrument down to the ground.”
Their sound is based on Country, with flavors of Americana, bluegrass, and recent pop. Owing to Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson lyrically, the band has sounded like the Allman Brothers or Lynyrd Skynyrd. They have brought a mainstream appeal to home-grown, local Georgia country sounds.
The Foundation of Georgia Country
If their less-then-celebrity- look, featuring blue jeans, t-shirts, and fuzzy beards, has not endeared them to fans, their love of life’s blessings has made them a live favorite and a sing-along sensation.
As their album The Foundationand lead single “Chicken Fried” proclaims: “You know I like my chicken fried / Cold beer on a Friday night / A pair of jeans that fit just right / And the radio up,” they are obviously in tuned to a simple country life.
But not just on their first single, their follow-up “Toes” features a Jimmy Buffett-style island mentality: “I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand / Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand / Life is good today.”
And with sing-along choruses like the one on live-favorite “Free” (“No we don’t have a lot of money / No we don’t have a lot of money”), fans can expect the band to export a brand of optimism and country grit from speakers. As the song continues, “All we need is love / We’re free as we’ll ever be.”
The Foundation featuring Whatever It Is
Released on Atlantic Records, The Foundation features songs mostly penned by lead singer Zac Brown, and the following tracklist:
- Toes
- Whatever It Is
- Where the Boat Leaves From
- Violin Intro to Free
- Free
- Chicken Fried
- Mary
- Different Kind of Fine
- Highway 20 Ride
- It's Not OK
- Jolene
- Sic 'Em On a Chicken
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