Photo courtesy of Atlantic Records/Southern Ground Artists, Inc.

When the Zac Brown Band serves up its next album, You Get What You Give, Sept. 21, it will feature several bonus appearances.

Jimmy Buffett and ace bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice both show up, as does Alan Jackson, who sings on “As She’s Walking Away,” which was released as a single earlier this week.

Alan contributed, in part, because he and the band have a similar connection: Keith Stegall produces both acts, and that made it a little easier to line everything up. It makes for a unique collaboration — Alan is decidedly traditional country, while the Zac Brown Band has one foot in country and the other in a sort of jam-band philosophy.

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Photo courtesy of Atlantic Records/Southern Ground Artists, Inc.

From its live version of Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” to its island-flavored single “Toes,” the Zac Brown Band has shown itself to be a musically flexible act.

Just how flexible? Enough that it’s landed four country hits off its 2008 album The Foundation but also opened for the Dave Matthews Band at a pair of stadium gigs over the weekend in New York City.

And it sounds as if Zac and crew will demonstrate even greater flexibility with the next release, You Get What You Give.

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic. Photo courtesy of willienelson.com.

Grills will be fired up, flags will be waving and fireworks will be booming across the country this weekend in honor of America’s 234^th birthday, but you can also catch some of your favorite country music artists in concert to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend.

** Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July picnic has become a staple of the holiday and this year, it will be held in Bee Cave, Texas, just outside of Austin. Along with Willie, Jamey Johnson, Jack Ingram, David Allan Coe and Kris Kristofferson are scheduled to perform along with many others.

** Carrie Underwood will close down Summerfest – the 11-day, 11-stage music festival held annually in Milwaukee – with a performance on the main stage. She will be joined by special guest Sons of Sylvia. Danny Gokey will also be in concert at Summerfest that night.

** Trace Adkins will headline Nashville’s Let Freedom Sing! concert along with Julianne Hough with a free show on the Riverfront stage. Julianne will also perform on Saturday and Chuck Wicks on Friday. All shows are free and open to the public. Continue Reading

ShareThis

Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Keith Urban, the Zac Brown Band, Brad Paisley and Martina McBride are among the first round of acts who’ve been revealed for the annual CMA Music Festival June 10-13, a weekend that promises to bring plenty of tourism to Tennessee.

The Nashville-centered festival — which also promises Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker — occurs the same weekend as the ninth annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 65 miles away in Manchester. That event is a multi-genre draw, though country music plays a role, too. The Zac Brown Band is booked, as it was last year, for both festivals. Bonnaroo also lists Miranda Lambert, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band among this year’s attractions.

The CMA Festival is particularly beneficial to country artists. Some of the money raised by the event is donated to Nashville music education programs — last year’s festival generated more than $1 million for schools. In addition, highlights from the festival’s stadium concerts have for several years formed the backbone for an ABC special in the late summer or early fall.

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Zac Brown Band photo courtesy of Atlantic Records.

One of the biggest strengths of country music is its ability to connect with the real-world issues of typical, working-class people in Middle America, and the Zac Brown Band is entrenched at No. 1 on GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown with a song and a video that do exactly that. The four-minute clip for “Highway 20 Ride” is in the top position for a second week on this weekend’s edition of the countdown, hosted by Nan Kelley.

The video brings appropriate visuals to the song’s storyline about a Georgia-based truck driver struggling to maintain a good relationship with his kid, despite the fact that he’s divorced the child’s mom and has to leave the state to earn his paycheck. The band plays it well, and Zac sings it like he means it.

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Sugarland photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

For the 16th straight year, the Recording Academy is celebrating its awards show with the 2010 Grammy Nominees CD, with five of the 20 tracks on the latest edition coming from country acts: Taylor Swift, the Zac Brown Band, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum and Rascal Flatts.

It marks the most country releases ever featured on the multi-genre compilation, which has previously never had more than two from Nashville’s best-selling idiom in a single year. In fact, during four of the previous 15 years, no country artists made the nominees CD at all.

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Kenny Chesney photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

#8 on GAC’s Top Stories of 2009 |  View all »

In the midst of a depressin’ recession, it’s a huge gamble to put on a stadium concert, and very few acts are willing to roll the dice on the up-front expenses for that kind of a gig. Of those that do, it seems nearly all of them were country acts in 2009 — and usually that act was Kenny Chesney.

Kenny played a dozen stadiums during his Sun City Carnival Tour, joined for most of the schedule by Sugarland, Montgomery Gentry, Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum. Kenny created a party atmosphere, often bringing up hometown athletes — including members of the Chicago Bears and the New England Patriots, for example — to connect with the city. By the time Sun City ground to a halt in Indianapolis in September, the Zac Brown Band had replaced Lady A and Kenny had topped every other act in any genre as the top touring artist, according to USA Today.

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

Jason Aldean recently saw his hit “She’s Country” go platinum, and he’ll talk about his unique blend of country and hard-rockin’ music with co-host Nan Kelley on this weekend’s edition of GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown.

“She’s Country” was the first hit off his current Wide Open album, which has notched two more huge singles: “Big Green Tractor” and “The Truth.” He’s taking a break from touring through the end of December, but he’ll be back out on the trail in 2010. His calendar already includes a major stop on the inaugural HullabaLOU Music Festival at Churchill Downs, the same Louisville venue that hosts the Kentucky Derby. Also on the bill with Jason in July are the Zac Brown Band, Loretta Lynn, Kenny Chesney, Bon Jovi, Dwight Yoakam, the Dave Matthews Band, the Black Crowes and Gloriana.

Continue Reading

ShareThis