INTERVIEW: 'Welcome Home,' Zac Brown Band - The Band On Going Back To Their Roots With Their New Album

Welcome Home, Zac Brown Band. The group went back to their roots in their new album, and are getting personal. Welcome Home is Zac Brown Band's seventh studio album, and is their first release on Southern Ground/Elektra Records. The new album was produced by Grammy-Award winning producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell) and The Arena Productions, and was recorded at Southern Ground Nashville studio. The new album follows their 2015 record Jekyll + Hyde and features ten new songs, including singles like "My Old Man" and "Family Table."

Zac tells us that the meaning behind the album's title reflects the band going back to their roots. "The meaning behind Welcome Home means just coming back to our roots. Going back after doing an adventurous record with Jekyll + Hyde [and] just coming back to a purist approach, and back to the foundation. Kind of [like] the first record that we ever made."

[Buy Welcome Home on iTunes]

Welcome Home ... To The Studio

Zac Brown Band worked with Dave Cobb on their new album, and Zac says that, "getting to perform all of these songs that we've been writing for the last year that we wrote specifically for this record, it was very personal."

Brown adds, "We definitely did the studio a little bit differently because we didn't spend a full week doing pre-production and actually getting all the parts and everything lined up. We basically jumped in a room with Dave Cobb, and talked through what we were gonna do. And then we went in and recorded it. We recorded the whole record in six days."

While writing and recording Welcome Home, Zac was inspired by early influences including James Taylor, the Allman Brothers, and singer/songwriters like Roger Styles and Nathan Young. With all of these influences, and going back to their roots, Welcome Home is vastly different from Jekyll + Hyde, which is a concept album that shows off the range of the band. Zac says, "Welcome Home is dead down the middle for writing straight from the heart, to the sound of my band and the sound of our voices together."

Welcome Home Songs & Collaborations

Most of the songs on Welcome Home are extremely personal, especially for Zac. The first single the band shared from their new album is "My Old Man," and the reason they chose this song to lead with is because it's unexpected and different from what fans are hearing on the radio.

"'My Old Man' was my choice for the first single because of how just to the bone that it is. It's so different than anything else that's out on the radio right now. I know that normally people are like, 'Well let's get something with some tempo.' Well, let's get something that really connects you to emotion. Let's get something that makes you feel something that might help you grieve and want to cry. Maybe after hearing the song, maybe you want to call your dad and tell him that you love him. That's why we chose that one first because it's easy to go to tempo after that one."

But perhaps, the most personal song on the record is "2 Places at 1 Time," which is about the struggle of being away from family while on the road touring. Zac tells us, "That one just cuts me to the bone because it's about the struggle of being away from my family, and then the struggle of being away from the music. And I love both, I'm torn between the two of them. If I could just tear myself in half and be in both places at one time, then I could have some peace with all of it."

Aside some working with Dave Cobb, Zac Brown Band also teamed up with Kacey Musgraves on their song "All The Best." And Zac praises her as "one of the greats." He says, "I love her voice, I love her artistry. She's one of the greats in my opinion. There's a handful of artists that I really admire in this format and she's definitely one of them."

Zac Brown Band is celebrating Welcome Home by performing their new music live during their iHeartCountry Album Release Party on May 15th. The band will be performing many of their new songs for fans live, as well as some ZBB favorites during the intimate show. Fans can tune in free for a live video stream of the exclusive iHeartCountry Album Release Party with Zac Brown Band on Monday, May 15th, at 7 p.m. at youtube.com/iHeartRadio. Don't miss it!