Zac Brown Band: A Journey Through Music Styles

When it came time to record their latest record, last year’s Love & Fear, Georgia’s Zac Brown Band turned to a formula that’s worked well in the past. Since forming nearly 20 years ago, the Georgia-based country group has embraced various musical styles, and it continues to do that with the new release, its eighth studio effort.

“Every two or three years, we pull together and try to make a classic ZBB album,” says singer-guitarist Brown via phone from Alaska, where he owns a home. Zac Brown Band performs on Saturday, July 18, at Rocket Arena. “I’m really, really proud of this album. I was able to boil these songs down from about 25 songs. I have a whole other album of stuff that’s not released. I tried to concentrate [Love & Fear] down to the best songs. Our recipe is to have a little Southern rock and a little country and bluegrass and Americana and some ’70s singer-songwriter and island-y love songs. It’s that same recipe. It’s just a new batch.”

Brown says he’s particularly proud of the collaborations on the release. Country icon Dolly Parton, gangsta rapper Snoop Dogg and bluesman Marcus King all guest on different songs.

“To have a ballad with Dolly [Parton] and have her absolutely come on and sing and murder it is amazing,” he says. “What she is singing is so difficult. When I got that track back, I could not believe it. She is unbelievable. She’s as good now as she’s ever been. It’s an honor.”

He says singing a song about getting high with Snoop Dogg, who also appears in the music video with blunt in hand, was fun.

“Not every song is about my life,” he clarifies. “It could be touching on it, but when a subject comes up that could be potential material, I think it would make a good song if somebody can relate to this. My normal day is not like Snoop’s normal day.”

Guitar whiz Marcus King adds his magic touch to “Hard Run,” one of the album’s heavier tunes, by turning in a searing guitar solo. Brown says King did five takes in the studio, and it was difficult to pick which one was the best because they were all unique in their own way.

“Marcus makes me want to throw my guitar in the ocean,” says Brown with a laugh. “I just have to accept the fact that I will never have fluidity he has. He’s so close to the flame. I have to be comfortable in my lane as a crafter and as somebody who builds songs. I love that part of it. There are only a handful of people who breathe, and you can feel everything that they feel. You can feel it coming out from them in that way. A tip of the hat to the people who are close to the flame. We have some incredible talent with Marcus [King] and Derek Trucks and Billy Strings. There’s a lot of virtuosos. If some of these guys would have played back at Woodstock, they would have been the thing.”

ZBB started the year off strong with shows at the Sphere, the Las Vegas venue that offers bands the chance to present concerts as multimedia events.

“That was a dream,” Brown says of the gigs at the renowned venue. “It was two years of the hardest work I have put into anything. I wanted to give fans a real spectacle. I wanted to share my experiences growing up and the things I have been through so people could recognize those things in their lives and get past them. The whole point of that story was being a victor instead of a victim and trying to do the next right thing, whatever that is.”

Brown says some of the visuals from that run of shows at the Sphere will make their way into the Cleveland show.

“We’ll play some of the new music and all the old songs people would expect in Cleveland,” he says. “We want to provide a space where people can come and share memories and not be divided. We want people to be reminded about the good things in life while social media creates this anger. There are blessings, too, and it’s a blessing to get the opportunity to provide people with a memorable night.”