The Zac Brown Band Biography

Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown Band. Republic Records

Zac Brown Band Basic Facts:

Band Members: Zac Brown, Jimmy De Martini, John Driskell Hopkins, Coy Bowles, Chris Fryar and Clay Cook.
Hometown: The band is based out of Atlanta, GA.

Country Style: Contemporary Country

Musical Influences:

Hootie & the Blowfish, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jimmy Buffett and the Allman Brothers Band.

Suggested The Zac Brown Band Songs:

  • "Chicken Fried"
  • "Whatever It Is"
  • "Different Kind of Fine"
  • "Highway 20 Ride"
  • "Toes"

Similar Artists:

Some other artists with music similar to The Zac Brown Band

  • Eli Young Band
  • The Lost Trailers
  • Randy Rogers Band

Recommended Albums:

  • The Foundation (2008)

The Zac Brown Band Biography:

Zac Brown was raised in Dahlonega, Georgia, the 11th of 12 children. He learned to play classical guitar at age 7. As a teenager, he played solo gigs in local venues, doing country and pop cover songs. He attended summer camp, and worked with mentally and physically challenged kids. This experience touched him so that he vowed to one day open his own camp one day.

In college, he started a band, and he played dates in local restaurants with the band, and solo as well, to earn money to pay for school. The band recorded a CD to sell at gigs in 1998, but broke up during recording sessions. By the time the 9-11 tragedies struck, Zac again re-evaluated his life, and decided that life was too short doing something he didn't love, so he decided to perform music full-time.

In 2002, the Zac Brown Band was formed, and they hit the road with a heavy tour schedule of about 200 dates a year. In 2003, Zac started his own label, called Home Grown -- today, it's called Southern Ground for legal reasons -- and released the band's first CD, called Home Grown. Two years later, they released a live CD -- Live from the Rock Bus Tour. In 2004, he opened a music club and restaurant with his father, where the fare was southern-style cooking. The Zac Brown Band played in the club on weekends, and continued playing gigs on the road as well.

A developer bought the restaurant, and Zac and the band bought a tour bus, and hit the road full-time, playing rock and country clubs as well as folk and jam band festivals.

In 2006, the band cut The Foundation with producer Keith Stegall. The album was picked up by Live Nation for their new record label. When the label folded, Atlantic picked it up, and released the album nationally.

Chicken Fried

The first single from the album was "Chicken Fried." The song took off, topping the country charts in late 2008 for two weeks straight. The second single released from the album is "Whatever It Is."

ACM Award Winner

The Zac Brown Band was nominated for the ACM New Duo/Group in 2009, along with The Eli Young Band and The Lost Trailers. Fans voted online for this award, and The Zac Brown Band came up on top in the category. They now move on to the ACM New Artist Award category, along with the winners in the ACM New Male and ACM New Female categories. The award winner will be announced during the ACM Awards show on April 5, 2009.