Zac Brown Takes Over The Hawk This Weekend

Zac Brown has always had a huge number of fans in the Greater Binghamton area since the Hawk has been playing their music from that first release 'Chicken Fried' back in 2008.  Last summer when Zac and the guys headlined a show at Enjoie, it was clear Binghamton loved the Zac Brown Band even more than before.

Fast forward to four albums later and a Hawk weekend take over, this is the weekend to share with Zac.  You can catch him early Sunday morning on Rise Up Country with Jon Ritter from 6-8am.  Later that night, Zac counts down the Country Top 30 on 'CMT Country Countdown USA' with Lon Helton, Sunday night from 7-10pm on 98.1 The Hawk, on line at 981TheHawk.com and you can listen live to the Hawk with the free app RadioPup on your smart phone or tablet.

The new Zac Brown Band's new album is called Jekyll & Hyde.  But there's no song by that name on it.  Lon asked Zac to explain the album's title: "We always push the boundaries on the styles we put on a record.  On our last record, we had a straight R&B song.  We’ve gone further on this album, where we have a big band song, kind of a Sinatra type song, we have a couple songs that have electronic music on them.  We’ve got a couple rock songs, maybe a little heavier than what we’ve done in the past.  So the title Jekyll & Hyde really covers the breadth of the record.”

Then there's the haunting album cover, featuring Zac's face with two different colored eyes: "“We wanted the Jekyll & Hyde thing to be subtle , we thought about doing the warped face on one side, and regular face on the other, but it was too on-the-nose.  So we got one of the best rock photographers of all time, Danny Clinch, to shoot the video, and one of his guys came up with the two colored eyes.  I’ve had a lot of compliments on it.”

In addition, Zac's trademarked wool beanie has been replaced.  Zac explains: "A friend of mine in New York made that hat and my label partner John Varvatos embellished it. I've always done what I wanted to do.  I've had people ask about why the change in hat, and I've always tried to better myself.  I've lost about 30 pounds, so to me it's like a fresh start.  I've always worn what I wanted to wear.  The hats I want to wear now are different.  In the winter, I'm sure I'll wear my beanies and stuff like that."

About a year ago, Zac and his wife welcomed their fifth child, also their first son, to the family.  Lon asked Zac about Alexander Frost Brown: "His name is Alexander, which is my middle  name and my great-grandfather's name.  My great grandfather was 6 foot 7, he was a big dude.  My son when he was born was 11 pounds 7 ounces.  He's now wearing two-year old clothes, and he's only 10 months old.  So I think he got some of the Alexander gene pool."

What do you call him?  "We don't call him Alexander Frost.  We call him Bubs.  That's what stuck.  It came from calling him Bubba.  That's what everyone calls him.  So I guess he thinks that's his name."

Zac also previews his Jekyll & Hyde Tour, that kicks off May 1st in Nashville, and talks about performing on Saturday Night Live.