Atlantic Records

Zac Brown Band on The Today Show

At 5:45 a.m. I’m usually fast asleep dreaming about meeting celebrities on tropical islands. Not the morning of Friday, August 12, 2011. Instead, I found myself on the way to Rockefeller Plaza to see Zac Brown Band perform on The Today Show for the first time of the band’s career!

I have been a huge Zac Brown Band fan since the first time I heard “Chicken Fried” on the radio in North Carolina where I attend school. I’ve always found it disappointing that there is currently no NY/NJ hit country music station for people to enjoy my favorite genre of music, but the crowd outside Rockefeller showed me that this has clearly not prevented Zac Brown Band from achieving a giant national fan base.

Viewer’s Choice Song: “Chicken Fried”

I thought I was up early, but these decked out cowboys had been lining the streets as early as 3 and 4 a.m.! I smiled assuredly as I walked past the excited and highly-caffeinated fans, knowing that I would be receiving my VIP pass at the front of the line (one of the perks of being a publicity intern at Atlantic Records!).



After what seemed like an eternity (and countless teasers by Today Show anchors), Zac Brown Band was ready to perform! The band approached the stage with Zac Brown on lead vocals and guitar, Jimmy De Martini on violin and vocals, John Driskell Hopkins on bass and vocals, Coy Bowles on guitar, Clay Cook on guitar, mandolin and vocals and Chris Fryar on drums. The fans roared as the band began to play “Chicken Fried,” knowing that they had chosen this song earlier in the week via text messages and an online poll! The band also performed three other hits flawlessly, including “Knee Deep” (my favorite), “Free” and “Keep Me In Mind,” that had everyone in the crowd singing and dancing along.

Interview & “Knee Deep”:

Later, Zac Brown and Chef Rusty Hamlin filmed an entire cooking segment with Natalie Morales on the band’s state-of-the-art cooking trailer “Cookie”which accompanies the band to concerts so they can “eat and greet” with fans all over the nation. This was a pretty big deal, as artists normally perform two to three songs and are not featured on other segments on The Today Show. This Today Show was all about Zac Brown Band!

Cooking Segment with Chef Rusty Hamlin:

As if the awesome performances and delicious Southern cookin’ were not enough for one day, what we had been eagerly looking forward to all week at Atlantic happened during the interview with Natalie Morales and Lester Holt. Zac Brown Band was presented with a plaque for their second album under Southern Ground/Atlantic Records, You Get What You Give (2010), going platinum. This is a two-time Grammy winning band that has had eight No. 1 hits and shows no signs of slowing down – and yet Zac Brown still looked so genuinely grateful and humbled by the public presentation. When asked about what has changed for the band over the last few years, Brown said: “A lot has changed, but our core — we love what we do, we love our craft, we love the fans, we love to be doing what we love to do. We count our blessings every day to get to be here and be able to do it. This is a great thing.”

I, too, have a lot of blessings to count from this summer. As excited as I was to be at The Today Show to see one of my favorite groups perform, the experience was bitter-sweet as it was my last day as a publicity intern at Atlantic Records. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity and learned many useful skills that I’ll take with me forever. I personally love the music business because I find it so rewarding to be a part of promoting talented artists so that their great music can be shared with and stir emotion in the fans. It was gratifying when I realized while watching Zac Brown Band perform that our efforts as interns DO impact a lot of people. The numerous mock ups on which we expend our creative juices become part of press kits that we put together and send out to tons of people, including major news publications and networks. Then ta-da! – Atlantic artists like Zac Brown Band are able to “wow” millions across the nation with their great music on The Today Show.

Zac Brown mentioned that he feels so lucky he pinches himself every day; I feel the same way as I could not have asked for a better experience this summer OR a more exciting last day! I will definitely “Keep Zac Brown Band In Mind” for years to come!

--Clare Geraghty, Summer 2011 Publicity Intern