Zac Brown Band Reveals Star-Studded Nashville Lineup

Southern Ground Music & Food Festival 2013: Zac Brown Band Reveals Star-Studded Nashville Lineup

The Southern Ground Music & Food Festivalreturns to Nashville for a second year withZac Brown Band and a who's who of musical friends along for the ride. The festivities take place at the Lawn at Riverfront Park, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27-28, with ZBB joined by Willie Nelson & Family, Eli Young Band, Kacey Musgraves, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, the Head and the Heart and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Additional acts will be revealed soon.

The festival's hosts will be joined by celebrity friends for their "Super Sets."Kenny Chesney, John Fogerty and Jason Mraz will perform with Zac Brown Band at the close of both nights.

Ticket pre-sale for Zac Brown Band fan club members begins Wednesday, April 24, at 12:00 PM CT. Pre-sale opens to attendees of last year's festival Thursday, April 25, at 10:00 AM CT. General sale begins Saturday, April 27 at 10:00 AM CT. Last year's event drew more than 12,000 people to downtown Music City.

VIP ticket options are also available and include access to Zac Brown Band's customized Front Porch Stage Boxes, providing concertgoers with onstage seating and a gourmet meal prepared by a team of renowned chefs under the helm of Southern Ground Executive Chef Rusty Hamlin. Guests in the boxes are served complimentary beer, wine, liquor and non-alcoholic drinks, as well as gourmet cuisine from ZBB's mobile kitchen.

Two-day festival passes start at $99. Gates open at 2:00 PM CT on Friday and 12:00 PM CT on Saturday. For more details on the full music and food lineup, visit the official Southern Ground Music and Food Festival website.

Zac Brown Band releases new album

Zac Brown Band releases new album

 It's an important election year.
We know.
We get it.

And we also understand everyone with a cause and a soapbox is going to try to do everything in their power to persuade as many of us as possible to vote in favor of the candidates who support those causes.
We all have our political views.
But, patriotic anthems aside, music is where people go to get away from controversial and often divisive subjects like politics, and a good many of the albums I'm getting in these days include message songs from all colors of the political spectrum.
Of course, the artists who record them can do that. It is, after all, a free country.
But since to recommend an album that promotes a position is tacit approval of that position, I'm not going to comment on any albums containing overt political statements. If they want their political message to get out, they can buy an ad like anyone else.
So in this election year, this space is going to be a calm haven from the continuous clamor of the political wars going on in the rest of the media.
So let's talk about a new country album just coming out.
"Uncaged" by THE Zac Brown Band
I've been watching the Zac Brown Band come along as a major force in country music since the Georgia-based group's first big league release, "The Foundation," came out. And, to be honest, I still just don't see it.
I mean, it's a good band, it's a great band; but I just don't hear the difference between Brown and his boys and any number of other Southern rock-based country outfits fighting it out for a place on the charts or among the Grammy Award nominees.
Still, the ZBB's new release, "Uncaged," is another extremely tight and well-crafted set of original material — songs that draw from a wide variety of influences and styles that the fans are going to love.
Brown's potent leather-lunged vocals not only sound right at home on the power-driven numbers such as "Natural Disaster" and the title track, but his voice purrs with plenty of subtle nuance on more sensitive pieces such as "Lance's Song" and "Sweet Annie."
Some of the other stylistic textures are just as interesting. "Overnight" has a sophisticated R&B feel I would ordinarily expect from an old Motown hit, but it works nicely in this setting, and the nod to Jimmy Buffett's trademark island groove on "Jump Right In" almost makes me wonder why Buffet himself hasn't recorded it.
Overall, "Uncaged" is a very good, very solid, modern country album, with plenty of nice traditional touches among the guitar-driven Southern rock muscle, and I'm sure it'll be another big hit release for Brown and the guys. Maybe even help them rack up another Grammy Award.
Could "Uncaged" have been done as well by someone else? Maybe, maybe not. I just know that I don't have to understand it to recommend it.

Zac Brown Band Studio Opens

Zac Brown Band Studio Opens in Nashville, Bar & Restaurant Coming Next

 

"We want to exceed expectations," says Zac Brown. And that's not only what Zac Brown Band is doing with their third studio album, Uncaged, but also what they're doing with their whole business philosophy.

Just a little over a year after Zac started his own record label, Southern Ground Artists, Inc., the Grammy-winning musician has opened the Southern Ground recording studio just off Nashville's Music Row. And even though his home remains in Georgia, Zac says the new studio is just the start of his Music City monopoly.

"We're coming to Nashville," he says with a smile. "We're infiltrating, so (the studio) is the first step towards that. We're gonna have a restaurant here and a bar here eventually."

While the Zac Brown Band restaurant may be a ways off, the guys do plan to feed fans in the city this September 21-22 when their Southern Ground Music & Food Festival comes to Nashville. The unique concert experience pairs an eclectic musical lineup with gourmet food prepared by award-winning chefs.

"We want to be known for doing things differently," says Zac. "When you feed somebody a great meal, they remember it. We are one of the people, and when we get to sit and eat with our fans, it's a reminder to them and to ourselves that we're no different than they are even though we're up on stage."

Zac Brown Band's latest single is the catchy, uptempo "The Wind" -- what the lead singer calls a "barn-burning song." "It showcases everyone's musicianship in the band," he says. "It's the most country thing that's been on the radio for a while." Listen to "The Wind" below.

Zac Brown Band's Uncaged is due in stores July 10.