Since the Zac Brown Band released their album "Foundation" in November 2008, the Georgia-spawned group has scored such No. 1 country hits as "Chicken Fried," "Whatever It Is" and "Toes." The band was named Top New Vocal Group at the Academy of Country Music Awards. They earned Breakthrough Video of the Year from CMT.
Singer-guitarist Zac Brown and his mates will perform Feb. 6 at a venue considered by many to be packed with country-friendly folks: Daytona International Speedway, where the lads will play before and after the Budweiser Shootout, the kickoff to NASCAR's new season.
But the country music world is having a difficult time keeping Brown and company to itself.
(The Zac Brown Band includes, from left: Clay Cook on guitar, organ, mandolin, pedal steel and vocals; Coy Bowles on guitar and organ; Chris Fryar on drums; Jimmy De Martini on violin and vocals; Zac Brown (top) on lead vocals and guitar and John Driskell Hopkins on bass and vocals.)
The band won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist this past Sunday, besting the indie pop duo the Tings Tings and the alt-rock band Silversun Pickups, among other non-country acts.
Meanwhile, the Zac Brown Band lost out in two other Grammy categories: Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals and Best Country Album for "Foundation."
Meanwhile, the band's Web site crows that the sextet "also appeals to lovers of bluegrass, jam bands, reggae and seemingly everyone in between. It's no wonder that another famous genre-hopper, Michigan's Kid Rock, has performed with the band and given them his strong endorsement."
And the Zac Brown Band will open for the Dave Matthews Band on tour this summer.
As the band continues to be busy recording its follow-up to "Foundation," guitarist-organist Coy Bowles wrote on the group's Web site in late January: "The new album, which is yet to be named, has songs that are island-reggae in feel, classic Southern rockin' tunes, hook-driven songs that are going to be perfect for the radio, love songs, funky songs, and heart-felt indescribable songs that just sound like the Zac Brown Band."
"Everything has to do with the song," said Brown, a native of Dahlonega, Ga. "Every song is born and wants to go its own direction. When audiences hear a new song for the first time, if at the end of it they're going crazy and cheering, you know you've pulled it off."
The band also includes Jimmy De Martini on violin, John Driskell Hopkins on bass, Clay Cook on guitar, organ, mandolin and pedal steel, and Chris Fryar on drums.
Despite the band's seemingly meteoric rise, "It took 13 years to get to the beginning of it," Brown said.
A spokesman for Atlantic Records, the band's label, said no date had been set for the release of the new album.
If You Go
WHO: Zac Brown Band
WHEN: In concert Saturday Feb. 6 before and after the Budweiser Shootout
WHERE: Daytona International Speedway, 1801 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach
WHAT: Three racing events will take place: Daytona 500 qualifying at 1:05 p.m., the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA race at 4:30 p.m., followed by the Budweiser Shootout.
TICKETS: Start at $49; Sprint Fanzone access is $30. Sprint Fanzone/pre-race access holders will be able to view the pre-race concert from the tri-oval grass while all ticket holders will have access to the post-race concert, which will start in the Sprint Fanzone approximately 30 minutes after the end of the Shootout.
A $74 Zac Brown Band package includes a Budweiser Shootout ticket, Sprint Fanzone/pre-pace access and VIP area access to the group's pre-race performance.
Tickets available by calling 800-748-7467 (PITSHOP) or online at daytonainternationalspeedway.com
Photo: jeffography.com
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