What if Artist Nation had worked?<\/p>\n
You see Michael Cohl assembled a team in Florida and started a record company under Bob Ezrin.\u00c2\u00a0 They only ended up signing one act before disbanding, at least that’s the way I heard it, the Zac Brown Band.<\/p>\n
I’ve done my best not to write about this act.\u00c2\u00a0 Because of the deluge of e-mail from the agent and ultimate record company after Artist Nation disbanded, Atlantic.\u00c2\u00a0 The harder you work me, the more I’m inclined not to write about your act.\u00c2\u00a0 High pressure sales techniques don’t work anymore, not with the public.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, if you’re an act you want a team that will kill for you.\u00c2\u00a0 And Zac’s team is totally devoted.<\/p>\n
But what’s selling the Zac Brown Band is the music.<\/p>\n
I know "Chicken Fried".\u00c2\u00a0 I know he’s been around for years.\u00c2\u00a0 I played the album, it didn’t resonate.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, today I heard "Toes" on the radio.<\/p>\n
Arguably, "Chicken Fried" is a better record than "Toes".\u00c2\u00a0 It’s catchier, a bit more innovative.\u00c2\u00a0 It makes you want to jump up and start dancing a jig.\u00c2\u00a0 But "Toes" closed me.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t know, on XM’s Highway on a hot summer Friday before Labor Day weekend it just sounded right.<\/p>\n
I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand<\/span> I don’t even go to the beach anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 But I’ve spent enough time at the beach to know the mental state.\u00c2\u00a0 Like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.<\/p>\n Life is good today, life is good today<\/span><\/p>\n Notice he’s singing "today".\u00c2\u00a0 He’s not one of those moonies on a positive trip telling you life is beautiful.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 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. You’ve seen this act before.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the core of the bard of Key West, Jimmy Buffett.\u00c2\u00a0 But Jimmy hasn’t been hungry in years, hasn’t cut a great track since "Cheeseburger In Paradise".\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 The music is secondary.<\/p>\n I’d love to tell you Zac Brown is truly innovative, that there’s anything original about him.\u00c2\u00a0 But the truth is, he’s doing Jimmy Buffett’s act, with a slightly better voice and a lot more passion.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s still a focus on music instead of party.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, Jimmy should tie up with Zac right now, if Zac will let him.\u00c2\u00a0 One great Zac Brown-penned tune could keep Jimmy at sellout level, could garner him the airplay that would make him relevant again. Clive Davis would tell Zac to rewrite this chorus.\u00c2\u00a0 The lyrics are cool, but the music is just not catchy enough.\u00c2\u00a0 But that’s missing the point.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 The endless polish is ruining mainstream music.<\/p>\n Then again, Zac Brown is mainstream.\u00c2\u00a0 "Toes" is not the radio hit "Chicken Fried" was, but chart numbers are not everything.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the impact on the listener that matters.\u00c2\u00a0 Does it make you want to see the act?\u00c2\u00a0 Does it make you want to hear the next track?\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas Zac Brown’s album "Foundation" seems wholly him.<\/p>\n And you’ve got to give Zac credit, he doesn’t repeat the chorus verbatim, each time it comes ’round it’s different.\u00c2\u00a0 When I heard him singing about passing the Jager, I thought of Tommy Nast, how that was his favorite drink.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n And then there’s that line in the final verse…<\/p>\n With my ass in a lawn chair<\/span> PBR…\u00c2\u00a0 As in Pabst Blue Ribbon!\u00c2\u00a0 The blue collar brand that is not even close to original anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s manufactured by Miller.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s cool.\u00c2\u00a0 K2 even makes Pabst Blue Ribbon skis.\u00c2\u00a0 Zac could have sung "Pabst Blue Ribbon", made it clear, but why play to the ignorant, those who don’t care?\u00c2\u00a0 Play to the core, let everybody else figure it out.<\/p>\n I came home and dialed up "Foundation", and damned if every track didn’t sound good.\u00c2\u00a0 Now that I had the intro.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n It’s these serendipitous moments that build careers.\u00c2\u00a0 Not an appearance on the "Today Show".\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, you never know what moment will break you through.\u00c2\u00a0 Your best-laid plans can come to no fruition.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to keep on writing, keep on playing.<\/p>\n It’s not how many bands you’ve got on your roster, just how great they are.\u00c2\u00a0 One Zac Brown Band is better than ten losers, better than any one hit wonder.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, Atlantic has got Flo Rida, but they’ll make more money on Zac Brown, year after year.<\/p>\n Artist Nation is history.\u00c2\u00a0 But someone who can just sign the best can topple the majors.\u00c2\u00a0 Zac Brown is going to have a career.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, he already has one, most people just weren’t paying attention!\u00c2\u00a0 He’s been playing for years.\u00c2\u00a0 Unlike the teenager whose only desire is to be famous.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, we’d like something more innovative, but "Foundation" does not feel like a cheap shot, a lowest common denominator production.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, maybe the innovation is yet to come.<\/p>\n I hate to admit it, but I’ve become a fan.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand<\/span><\/p>\n
Well, the plane touched down just about 3 o’clock<\/span>
And the city’s still on my mind<\/span>
Bikinis and palm trees danced in my head<\/span>
I was still in the baggage line<\/span>
Concrete and cars are their own prison bars like this life I’m living in<\/span>
But the plane brought me farther<\/span>
I’m surrounded by water<\/span>
And I’m not going back again<\/span><\/p>\n
Adios and vaya con dios<\/span>
Yeah I’m leaving GA<\/span>
And if it weren’t for tequila and pretty senoritas<\/span>
I’d have no reason to stay<\/span>
Adios and vaya con dios<\/span>
Yeah I’m leaving GA<\/span>
Gonna lay in the hot sun and roll a big fat one<\/span>
And grab my guitar and play<\/span><\/p>\n
And toes in the clay<\/span>
Not a worry in the world a PBR on the way<\/span><\/p>\n\n