Toes
What if Artist Nation had worked?
You see Michael Cohl assembled a team in Florida and started a record company under Bob Ezrin. They only ended up signing one act before disbanding, at least that’s the way I heard it, the Zac Brown Band.
I’ve done my best not to write about this act. Because of the deluge of e-mail from the agent and ultimate record company after Artist Nation disbanded, Atlantic. The harder you work me, the more I’m inclined not to write about your act. High pressure sales techniques don’t work anymore, not with the public. Then again, if you’re an act you want a team that will kill for you. And Zac’s team is totally devoted.
But what’s selling the Zac Brown Band is the music.
I know "Chicken Fried". I know he’s been around for years. I played the album, it didn’t resonate. Then, today I heard "Toes" on the radio.
Arguably, "Chicken Fried" is a better record than "Toes". It’s catchier, a bit more innovative. It makes you want to jump up and start dancing a jig. But "Toes" closed me. I don’t know, on XM’s Highway on a hot summer Friday before Labor Day weekend it just sounded right.
I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand
Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand
I don’t even go to the beach anymore. I don’t want to expend all that effort to put on the suntan lotion, the "New York Times" said you need a shot glass for it to be effective, it’s not the SPF number, but the quantity. But I’ve spent enough time at the beach to know the mental state. Like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.
Life is good today, life is good today
Notice he’s singing "today". He’s not one of those moonies on a positive trip telling you life is beautiful. Sometimes driving with the sunroof open on a hot summer day with the right song coming out of the stereo is enough to make you feel like it’s fucking great to be alive. Zac Brown is not trying to browbeat you, he’s got the beach mentality, this is what’s going on with me, I’m tolerant of you.
Well, the plane touched down just about 3 o’clock
And the city’s still on my mind
Bikinis and palm trees danced in my head
I was still in the baggage line
Concrete and cars are their own prison bars like this life I’m living in
But the plane brought me farther
I’m surrounded by water
And I’m not going back again
You’ve seen this act before. It’s the core of the bard of Key West, Jimmy Buffett. But Jimmy hasn’t been hungry in years, hasn’t cut a great track since "Cheeseburger In Paradise". He’s focusing on saving the manatees, being a best-selling author, putting a play up on Broadway, he’s a conglomerate just like Jay-Z, and almost as successful. The music is secondary.
I’d love to tell you Zac Brown is truly innovative, that there’s anything original about him. But the truth is, he’s doing Jimmy Buffett’s act, with a slightly better voice and a lot more passion. There’s still a focus on music instead of party. Hell, Jimmy should tie up with Zac right now, if Zac will let him. One great Zac Brown-penned tune could keep Jimmy at sellout level, could garner him the airplay that would make him relevant again.
Adios and vaya con dios
Yeah I’m leaving GA
And if it weren’t for tequila and pretty senoritas
I’d have no reason to stay
Adios and vaya con dios
Yeah I’m leaving GA
Gonna lay in the hot sun and roll a big fat one
And grab my guitar and play
Clive Davis would tell Zac to rewrite this chorus. The lyrics are cool, but the music is just not catchy enough. But that’s missing the point. It’s not about crafting each song to the ultimate, squeezing out its essence, but laying down a number and then writing another! Rather than focus on what you’ve got, keep on trying. The endless polish is ruining mainstream music.
Then again, Zac Brown is mainstream. "Toes" is not the radio hit "Chicken Fried" was, but chart numbers are not everything. It’s the impact on the listener that matters. Does it make you want to see the act? Does it make you want to hear the next track? I really like Trace Adkins, but now that he’s had a few hits, he’s struggling to stay on top, he’s singing material that isn’t really him, I’m losing interest. Whereas Zac Brown’s album "Foundation" seems wholly him.
And you’ve got to give Zac credit, he doesn’t repeat the chorus verbatim, each time it comes ’round it’s different. When I heard him singing about passing the Jager, I thought of Tommy Nast, how that was his favorite drink. You may not be famous, but in your local bar your buddies know your favorite drink, on a Friday night in nowheresville you can be a king.
And then there’s that line in the final verse…
With my ass in a lawn chair
And toes in the clay
Not a worry in the world a PBR on the way
PBR… As in Pabst Blue Ribbon! The blue collar brand that is not even close to original anymore. It’s manufactured by Miller. But it’s cool. K2 even makes Pabst Blue Ribbon skis. Zac could have sung "Pabst Blue Ribbon", made it clear, but why play to the ignorant, those who don’t care? Play to the core, let everybody else figure it out.
I came home and dialed up "Foundation", and damned if every track didn’t sound good. Now that I had the intro. Nothing anybody involved had done could close me, but when I heard "Toes" on my own terms, at the right time, when I wasn’t expecting it, I was closed.
It’s these serendipitous moments that build careers. Not an appearance on the "Today Show". Then again, you never know what moment will break you through. Your best-laid plans can come to no fruition. You’ve got to keep on writing, keep on playing.
It’s not how many bands you’ve got on your roster, just how great they are. One Zac Brown Band is better than ten losers, better than any one hit wonder. Yes, Atlantic has got Flo Rida, but they’ll make more money on Zac Brown, year after year.
Artist Nation is history. But someone who can just sign the best can topple the majors. Zac Brown is going to have a career. Hell, he already has one, most people just weren’t paying attention! He’s been playing for years. Unlike the teenager whose only desire is to be famous. Sure, we’d like something more innovative, but "Foundation" does not feel like a cheap shot, a lowest common denominator production. Hell, maybe the innovation is yet to come.
I hate to admit it, but I’ve become a fan. I’d leave my home to see Zac Brown perform live light years before I’d go to see any of the dinosaurs, any of the white boy shoegazers. The music would have me bobbing my head, I’d be surrounded by people who look like me, there to cut loose, to feel good.
