Artists to Watch In 2009: Breakout Act – Zac Brown Band

When it comes to balancing artistic considerations with mainstream sensibilities, Zac Brown Band’s The Foundation is easily the best “debut” album since 2004’s Twice The Speed of Life became one of the defining breakout hits of the decade. (The band released three prior independent albums.)

Sugarland–then a trio–sold more than two million copies of Twice The Speed of Life, and now Zac Brown and his crew (who, like Sugarland, hail from Atlanta) are poised to replicate that success.

Like Sugarland with “Baby Girl,” Zac Brown Band scored a massive hit with its lead single, the peppy, feel-good anthem “Chicken Fried.” And like Sugarland, that lead single was far from the best the band had to offer. In the case of the former, while it was Jennifer Nettles’ unique vocal character, coupled with the song’s unusual construction, that initially garnered attention, it was the overall depth and underlying strength of the content on Twice The Speed of Life that allowed the group to build off the single’s success.

So too will it be true of Zac Brown Band, whose follow up to “Chicken Fried,” “Whatever It Is,” is one of the most honest, mature, and unusual love songs to hit country radio in years. Of course, it’s not even close to the most meaty part of The Foundation.

Music is equal parts social experience and artistic exploration. This is why the most memorable and engaging music walks a fine line between exploration and accessibility, and why it should not necessarily be treated as as indictment of society as a whole when an album which is deemed artistically magnificent fails to sell on pace with music that, by all accounts, is less artistically compelling. After all, the greatest art is often well ahead of its time and out of sync with social trends.

What makes music engaging is not just how it sounds, but how it makes us feel. And how it makes us feel is, in part, based on how it fits into the context of our place in the world. How we share music goes a long way towards defining how we listen to it. And if a particular piece of music is so abstract or uniquely attractive that we listen to it in near isolation, though that piece of music may move us, it’s scope of influence on our lives will ultimately remain limited.

Often, the most artistically significant albums move so far beyond the frame in which their roots were conceived that they end up floating in the ether; by wholly rejecting the mainstream, and the artistically un-concerned slush that comprises its bulk, whatever social relevance the music in question holds is bound to an audience that is small and dispersed across the country or world.

Sugarland’s debut was so successful, in great part, because it was unique in the fact that it was artistically substantial but still socially accessible. It was smart enough to be appreciated by country’s most selective listeners, but direct and unpretentious enough to also be appreciated by those among us who define country music as whatever is played on the radio.

It takes parts of of both of those parties coming together to form an enduring star. Because the popularity of pop pretty-boys and divas surely fades over time, while those who consistently reject any notion of mainstream viability or influence exist in almost unyielding obscurity.

Zac Brown Band follows in Sugarland’s footsteps by bridging these two very differing approaches. While The Foundation contains a significant number of tracks which could reasonably be considered potential radio hits, these songs are flawlessly intertwined with tracks that range from the bluegrass-fueled “Mary” to a cover of Ray LaMontagne’s cocaine-flamed “Jolene” to the magnetic, extremely quirky “It’s Not OK.” The Foundation is an album that demonstrates refined artistry (ZBB has purportedly played over 3,000 live shows to date), genuine creativity, and, at times, irreverence.

And that makes it special, because few albums are able–or even attempt–to do all of these things. I expect Zac Brown Band to have a massive year in 2009.