Concert Reports

Zac Brown Band opens up The 2014 California Mid State Fair! Multiplatinum Band from Atlanta returns to the Chumash Grandstand Arena to rock a packed house! The California Mid-State Fair runs July 16 through 27 at the Paso Robles Event Center. For more information, call 239-0655 or visit www.MidStateFair.com.

All Photos: Ray Soto / Central Coast Rocks

www.ZacBrownBand.com     www.MidStateFair.com

Zac Brown Band may have nine hit singles, two platinum-selling records and countless dedicated fans, but to hear its members talk they're just getting warmed up. That's right—after numerous nights in front of packed arenas and amphitheaters, things are just beginning to come together for this accomplished band of brothers, led by one of the most charismatic individuals ever to don a beanie and dominate radio.

The band's latest project 'The Grohl Sessions Vol. 1' was produced by Dave Grohl and released on Zac's own Southern Ground Artists label. The "genius" (Cleveland Plain Dealer) collaboration "embodies the best of all parties involved" (NY Times). To date, Zac Brown Band have earned three GRAMMY Awards, sold over 6 million albums and produced a historic series of eleven #1 hit singles.  

Demand for the Zac Brown Band experience is at an all-time high. The multiplatinum, 3-time GRAMMY Award-winning outfit throw down every night with expert musicianship, hearty Southern rock, and an unparalleled fan experience that's selling out arenas and amphitheaters from coast to coast. The band has produced three platinum-selling albums 'Uncaged', 'You Get What You Give' and 'The Foundation.'  

Zac Brown Band is: singer/guitarist Zac Brown, violinist/singer Jimmy De Martini, multi-instrumentalist/singer John Driskell Hopkins, guitarist/organist Coy Bowles, multi-instrumentalist/singer Clay Cook, drummer Chris Fryar, percussionist Daniel de los Reyes, and bassist Matt Mangano.

The addition of percussionist Daniel de los Reyes has helped the band move the groove along. His new bandmates describe de los Reyes—known for performing and recording with Stevie Nicks, Sting, Peter Frampton and Earth, Wind & Fire, among others—as a consummate professional. "It was really great to have him along," says guitarist/keyboardist Coy Bowles. "Danny's not going to be playing timbales over a bluegrass song. So if he needs to play a shaker all the way through a song, that's what he'll do. He knows when to be aggressive and when to lay back. I think the album has a real cool dynamic because of his sensitivity to all that."

Brown has built a virtual southern Brill Building of songwriting talent, while doing his best to reincarnate the '70s heyday of Capricorn Records through his Southern Ground Artists label, home to The Wood Brothers, Levy Lowrey, Nic Cowan, Sonia Leigh, Blackberry Smoke and The Wheeler Boys. But that's only part of the story. His Southern Ground banner flies over everything from metalworking to leather goods. In addition to housing offices and rehearsal space, the former industrial warehouse in Atlanta that serves as the company's headquarters also features a full kitchen for "Chef Rusty" Hamlin and his crew, the better to power those much-talked-about "eat and greets" that Brown, a former restaurant owner, hosts for lucky fans.

The most farsighted plans reach beyond the warehouse, to a plot of land south of Atlanta where plans proceed for a nonprofit camp aimed to help kids overcoming behavioral and learning disabilities and disadvantaged backgrounds. Simultaneously, Southern Ground has secured a studio in Nashville for future recording needs. At this point it's safe to say that the Zac Brown Band is more than an act—it's quickly becoming a way of life.

The California Mid-State Fair runs July 16 through 27 at the Paso Robles Event Center. For more information, call 239-0655 or visit www.midstatefair.com.  

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