Zac Brown Band earns their seventh consecutive #1 with their latest hit "Colder Weather" on Mediabase this week. The second single from 'You Get What You Give' (Atlantic/Southern Ground) also tops the Billboard Hot Country chart, just days after the band's stunning performance at the Academy of Country Music Awards. The southern rockers performed "Colder Weather" in a duet with icon James Taylor that Brown called the "best musical moment of my whole career."
Co-written by Brown, longtime collaborator Wyatt Durrette, band member Coy Bowles, and Levi Lowrey of Brown's label Southern Ground Artists, "Colder Weather" is nothing short of "lyrically profound."
The song holds particular meaning for Bowles, marking his first #1 hit as a songwriter. "It's a very personal song for all of us," Bowles said. "It's something that really resonates because of where it came from. I think it's some of the best music we have ever made."
"Colder Weather" follows Zac Brown Band's #1 smash "As She Walking Away" featuring Alan Jackson, which was awarded Vocal Collaboration of the Year at Sunday's ACM Awards.
Since last I blogged, we have been preparing; tightening up our gear,
thinking up show ideas, & enjoying being at home. There were Atlanta
shows for Clay vs. Levi & Sonia Leigh. Sonia has been on tour
around the southeast recently. Her new album will be out this summer
& the team has been plotting & scheming to make sure that she
has little resistance.
This past weekend was exciting, stressful, fulfilling, & many
other multi-syllabic adjectives. We've been away from the road for
longer than we'd like. All three shows were very different from each
other. Let's recall the weekend, shall we?
We left Atlanta on Friday night bound for Houston. Zac was equipped
with his new bus. They've been building this thing for 6 months - every
detail to his specifications. One of the highlights was the fully
functioning Pro Tools rig in the front lounge. The room is stereo mic'd
so he can record writing sessions & vocal warm-ups any time he
wants. It is the COOLEST bus I've ever been on. I look forward to
spending some time on that one.
The Houston Rodeo was quite an experience. The actual rodeo event
was pretty cool. Even though I'm from the south, I've never attended a
rodeo. They seem to have some really intense fans for that sport. They
set us up a rotating stage in the middle of the whole rodeo. That's
right: I said 'rotating stage.' It was new to all of the other guys...
not my first rodeo on one of those. It was a quick hour gig... but
that's what the people who ran the rodeo wanted. Oh, did I mention that
we played for 70,000+ that night?
Friday night was Orange Beach, AL. This was a 'normal' ZBB show.
Blackberry Smoke opened up & we played for 2 hours. The energy was
great. Since we hadn't played a normal, long gig in a while - we felt
pretty comfortable stretching out that night. I'll never get tired of
that type of show. It's a great representation of who we are as a band.
Finally! The story behind the lyrics to 'Colder Weather. Find out
how Wyatt Durrette, Zac Brown, Levi Lowrey and Coy Bowles came to write
this emotionally charged single on The Boot!
