ZBB

Since my past few blogs have been relatively negative, I thought I'd lighten the mood & let you, my devoted follower, know about a new band that has plenty of talent & substance to go around.  This would be the Zac Brown Band, a country/rock/funk/reggae/progressive/jam group from the hills of Georgia.  Though ZBB has just recently begun to get some well-deserved recognition, they have actually been touring bars & college campuses nation-wide for over ten years.  Now, I am personally not a fan of country music, but ZBB is no ordinary country band.  After moving to Atlanta in 2005 my tolerance for country music naturally grew stronger and one night,  after having just started working at a local steakhouse, a co-worker invited me out to see this band she liked.  So we went to this bar somewhere outside of Canton & there they were, the Zac Brown Band.  They had the entire place moving & dancing, their most memorable song being a wicked rendition of Charlie Daniel's 'Devil Went Down To Georgia'.  I knew one day they would make it, but after that night I went on with my non-country-music life & didn't keep very good tabs on ZBB.  Well let's fast-forward five years.  In 2010 the Zac Brown Band had several number one hits on country radio, performed live on television, won Best New Artist at the Grammys, and played the main-stage at the Bonnaroo Arts & Music Festival in Tennessee (one that over 100,000 people attend).  Now that is progress!  I'm not sure if it's the small sentimental attachment for ZBB & Georgia that I have, but something makes me so happy to see these guys succeed.  They are one of the hardest working bands ever to have toured.  Their songs are very well-written and are enhanced by a chorus of harmonizing backing-vocals (I think everyone in the band sings, which I guarantee is a product of their Georgia roots).  As a whole the ZBB is technically sound, for all of you snobby musicians out there.  They are so tight together that it makes you strive to find flaws in their music, but you won't succeed in that endeavor.  These boys are simply the result of years of constant hard-work & jamming, mixed in with good southern hospitality & values (ZBB is known to throw parties for fans before and after shows, and they have also traveled over-seas to perform for the troops).   So check them out & tell a friend, that is if you like music that makes you feel good. -