Zac Brown Band photo courtesy of Atlantic Records.

With more than 100 categories represented, the Grammy Awards cover a lot of stylistic turf, from jazz to rock to reggae to classical.

The Zac Brown Band is in the running this month for the Recording Academy’s Best New Artist trophy, which pits the group against artists from several other genres. The band is hoping the recognition means there’s more success in its future.

“Once I found out that we were nominated for that, I kind of looked it up to see who had won it in the past,” fiddler Jimmy De Martini told The Oklahoman. “There are some pretty big artists — I mean, people like Norah Jones and Alicia Keys and The Beatles. It’s a pretty amazing group of people. There have been some like Milli Vanilli that you try not to follow their career. But it’s an honor to be nominated, especially in a cross-genre category.”

Only two artists who got their start in country music have taken Best New Artist in the past. LeAnn Rimes was the first country-based act to claim it in 1997. Carrie Underwood likewise earned the award in 2007. A few other acts — Shelby Lynne, Debby Boone and Bobbie Gentry — showed country tendencies before they won Best New Artist, though they weren’t classified as country at the time they earned their wins.

Whether or not they win, country’s Best New Artist nominees have almost always done well after competing for the Grammy. Other finalists in the category in the last decade included Brad Paisley, Gretchen Wilson, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum.

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