FRESH OFF THE RELEASE OF ITS 8TH STUDIO ALBUM, LOVE AND FEAR, THE ATLANTA-HAILING COUNTRY-ROCK TROUPE ZAC BROWN BAND CONTINUES TO STRETCH ITS MUSICAL BOUNDARIES WITH UNEXPECTED COLLABS AND A RECORD-BREAKING LAS VEGAS SPHERE RESIDENCY, ALL STIRRED WITH THE BAND’S SIGNATURE GRIT AND REBELLIOUS SWAGGER
BY DAN SALAMONE
A quick gander at Zac Brown makes it clear he’s not particularly interested in churning out product as just another handsome, clean-cut pop-country superstar. His muscular, barrel-chested physique is wildly speckled with grungy tattoos, and his facial hair is, depending on the day, somewhere between fuzzily groomed Williamsburg hipster and whiskey-stained ZZ Top roadie on day five of a post-tour bender. The latter of these characterizations would not only be unlikely to offend Mr. Brown, one imagines he would consider it a badge of honor. And that is why Zac Brown is the kind of superstar country music needs in 2026.
Look, there is nothing wrong with Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan, Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Kane Brown, or Eric Church (except for perhaps that one Morgan Wallen incident). Pop music is better for having a country twang on the charts. Taylor Swift got her start in country, and Garth Brooks ruled the ‘80s and ‘90s by moving country into the mainstream, anticipating our modern era of genre-agnostic pop.
So why is Zac Brown so essential? Because he spans the divide between freshly scrubbed pop country and the wing of country that was not only responsible for the genre’s first platinum record (1976’s compilation album, Wanted! The Outlaws by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser), but has also led to many of its most important artistic triumphs. I am talking about outlaw country, the subgenre formed for musicians who sought artistic freedom outside of the Nashville establishment – artists like the afore mentioned Jennings, Colter, and Nelson, along with others like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, David Allen Coe, and Kris Kristofferson. Outlaw country artists found the narrow dictates of Nashville, with its slick production and traditional topics, song lengths, and influences, far too limiting. It incorporated not only traditional country and Western music, but also soul, rhythm and blues, honky tonk, rockabilly, and later, even punk rock.
Zac Brown Band is the modern kind of country outlaw. Yes, they’ve had massive success. Since forming in 2002, the band has released eight studio albums, three EPs, one greatest hits collection, and three live albums. Of its two-dozen-plus country charting singles, 13 hit No. 1, and three others reached No. 2. In the 2010s, three albums hit No. 1 on the full Billboard chart, with 2010’s You Get What You Give going triple platinum. (The band’s debut remains its best-selling to date, going platinum five times over.) They’ve also been feted with a truly impressive 55 different music award nominations, including three Grammy wins. Yet the reason Zac Brown Band is so vital to the future of country music isn’t about awards or accolades. They’re important for that outlaw country spirit, head-spinning roster of genre bending collabs, and ever-expanding musical palette, remaining an essential bridge between the shiny surfaces of pop country and its wonderfully dirt-caked outlaw country soul.
Zac Brown Band