Song Review – Zac Brown Band’s “Homegrown”
It’s been a strange few years for the Zac Brown Band behind-the-scenes. They launched their own record label, signed other bands to it like Blackberry Smoke, that all dissolved for some reason, they released a strange but cool EP with Dave Grohl called The Grohl Sessions Vol. 1, had a somewhat successful single off of it called “All Allright” co-written by Zac Brown and Eric Church, and then announced an unusual three-way partnership that included Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine, Republic Records, and a label owned by menswear company John Varvatos, with an album to be tentatively released this spring.
It’s all enough to make the fan wanting to stay informed a little dizzy, but the most important thing you need to know is Zac Brown Band retains complete creative control and latitude over his music, which is why he entered this fluid environment years ago in the first place. Despite the flux, many savvy businessmen—which Zac Brown can be counted amongst with all his multiple entrepreneurial pursuits which include clothing, food, and music—see the Zac Brown Band as one of the biggest franchises in not just country music, but American music, with consistent ticket sales and solid loyalty built from years of substantive engagement through music and Zac Brown’s other pursuits.
What gives Zac Brown Band a lot more creative latitude with their music is the fact that they’re honest about not really being country. We’re all music fans first, and then our loyalties split down the lines of various genres. If only more artists were honest about their intentions, it would give us the opportunity to enjoy the music more. Zac Brown Band is a Southern rock band, which allows you to appreciate when they inflect their music with country textures, or record a straightforward country song upon occasion.
READ: Sturgill Simpson Playing “Can’t You See” with Zac Brown Band
Very much like a Texas country song from someone like Wade Bowen, “Homegrown” builds up from rock and roll sensibilities, then layers on the country music elements for character, while the heart, vibe, and theme are still very much those of a country song. “Homegrown” is not the pot anthem that some will hear, though the fact that it can work in that context and will become the soundtrack for some stoners to bake away is an added bonus for those listeners. But the song is about home and hearth, and has that very warm feel you just can’t imbibe in a track with trickery.
A solid melody bolstered by a bellowing and full harmony chorus reminiscent of the Oak Ridge Boys, “Homegrown” just has a great feeling to it. The music nerd in you may be concerned that there’s not enough going on here, that the lyrics aren’t gut punching enough and the chords are too bright, rendering your assessment of the song as something fun but superfluous. But you still won’t be able to get away from the great feeling the song imparts. Almost sensing this, Zac Brown Band calls upon a fairly complex bridge near the end, employing some unusual chord structures that add a little pepper and topography to the track, almost like a holdover from their progressively-structured music from The Grohl Sessions EP.
“Homegrown” won’t mint Zac Brown Band any awards, but it’s a really solid track, savvy as a first single from a new album by being accessible, slightly adventurous, and pleasantly familiar, making you anticipate what else they may have baking in the oven.
I like it.
1 1/2 of 2 Guns Up.
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“Home Grown” was the original name of Zac Browns record label. It was eventually changed to Southern Ground for legal reasons.
January 12, 2015 @ 6:29 pm
i like it a lot. This guy has slowly won me over in the last few years and I can see myself playing this one in the back yard in a couple of months with a fire in the pit and something on the grill. That bridge you mentioned is a very interesting touch.
January 12, 2015 @ 6:32 pm
Not their best song, but not bad either. Good review trig
January 12, 2015 @ 6:35 pm
Apparently Zac is also performing a cover of “dress blues”. I wonder if that will be on the album.
January 12, 2015 @ 6:40 pm
Sorry Mike2 I guess u commented while I was typing lol.
January 12, 2015 @ 6:39 pm
Pretty sure they just covered Jason Isbells “Dress Blues” on the college football pregame concert. I like Isbells a little more but, they did it well. I wonder if that might be on the next album. I doubt it ,but it would be cool.
January 12, 2015 @ 6:55 pm
I like…seems a little “laundry list”-ish but not in a bro country way. Review is basically spot on…enjoyable song but nothing that really hasn’t been 1000 times before. If this were neo-country rather than Sam Hunt, the world would be a better place.
January 12, 2015 @ 7:34 pm
Yes. I love that song! Probably the best song I’ve heard by a mainstream artist in a while!
January 14, 2015 @ 11:07 pm
I feel about this long like I feel about “Sounds of Summer” from Riser. While Dierks Bentley and Zac Brown are more than capable of something better, they pull off the upbeat/summer song very very well and make tolerable.
January 12, 2015 @ 7:00 pm
Off topic – but has anyone else heard Eric Paslay’s new song? Called something like “she’s don’t love you, she’s lonely. ” heard it on the radio today for the first time, and it’s solid tune. Unexpected, but awesome to hear on mainstream country radio.
January 13, 2015 @ 6:17 am
I love that song!
January 13, 2015 @ 6:30 am
I might actually buy this one. I can’t remember the last time I heard something on the radio and wanted to find out who the artist was. It’s a really good song.
January 13, 2015 @ 8:32 am
Yep, agree with you.
January 12, 2015 @ 7:15 pm
Thanks triggerman, The more I listen the more I like it. This is a true “feel-good” song for country radio. It doesn’t make you think too hard. Just kick back and realize you’ve got what you need. It’s sonically interesting enough to keep you interested and at times you feel as though you are in the georgia pine forests
I’ll be surprised if this doesn’t end up at #1 in a few months.
January 12, 2015 @ 7:25 pm
This is pretty good. Sort of reminds of their song ‘Free’ which makes happy every time I hear it.
January 12, 2015 @ 7:53 pm
Very mild in an almost nauseating kind of way. I keep giving Zac Brown listens hoping I’m going to like something but I guess it’s just not my cup of tea.
January 12, 2015 @ 8:39 pm
Honestly I expect it to be a lot like the other Zac Brown Band albums/songs which is I like a few of the songs and find the rest decent enough to forgettable. That being said I appreciate that it seems to be a true “band” and that they seem committed to keeping that vibe going.
I hope Dress Blues gets released as a single down the road if they do end up covering it. I love Jason Isbell and his version is superior, but anything that brings more mainstream attention to great artists and songwriters as well as bringing more substantive songwriting back to country radio is a good thing.
January 12, 2015 @ 8:43 pm
i just saw that Zbb covered it today, it’s a great song. Glad Zbb is covering it (hopefully on the new LP)
January 12, 2015 @ 8:59 pm
This song is a laundry list song. That does not make it bad. Some laundry list songs are just fun.
Lyrically it is sort of similar to ”Chicken Fried”.
It is very repetitive which makes it perfect for radio. The bridge is pretty cool.
This is no ”All Alright” but it will more than likely get more Airplay.
The cover artwork is cool. Good Fun Song!
January 12, 2015 @ 9:21 pm
I can see this being a hit — radio listeners could do a lot worse… 🙂 To me, it sounds totally fresh yet almost like something I could’ve grown up with in the ’80s…
January 12, 2015 @ 9:35 pm
In my humble opinion HOMEGROWN is a great track musically/rhythmically and sonically with a simple uncluttered message delivered with conviction . It has the makings of an anthem and was obviously written with a strong consideration for craft but doesn’t rely on craft to make its point . The song attempts to show not only a respect for the traditions of country music and themes but, more importantly , a respect for the REAL country music fan . Personally , I’ve been frustrated at times by the ZBB’s borderline schizophrenic music sensibilities . I’ve always thought they were capable of greater things as artists than some of their music would suggest. I think this is a song that could define what they are genuinely about and hopefully heralds an ongoing consistency in that respect..
January 12, 2015 @ 10:22 pm
It’s a solid song and far better than 99.9% of the songs you hear on the radio but I don’t love it on a first listen. It does make me want to load up the car and head out to the country (at least it would if it weren’t so damn cold outside). I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it but I wouldn’t change the station when it came on either.
January 13, 2015 @ 1:06 am
“We”™re all music fans first, and then our loyalties split down the lines of various genres.”
The best thing I’ve read in a long time. Good music is good music, crap is crap, no matter the genre.
Thanks for that.
January 13, 2015 @ 1:28 am
This is an okay song, but I would argue that it is sonically a step backward for the Zac Brown Band. The music strikes me as loud and flat due to the monotonous electric guitar, a likely concession to bro-country.
The melody just does not compare to their pre-bro-era gems “Free”, “Highway 20 Ride”, and “Colder Weather”, all of which deeply impact my emotions every time I listen. Songs like “Chicken Fried” and “No Hurry”, which feature the same general themes as “Homegrown”, are also more enjoyable than this song.
January 18, 2015 @ 10:22 pm
This is exactly how I feel, good assessment Eric. The songs I love of theirs are Colder Weather, I Play the Road, Highway 20 Ride, and Chicken Fried.
Zac Brown is about the only mainstream country act that I care for now, and it’s pretty sad that the band that is admittedly not country sounds more country than anything else on the radio.
I have never cared for overly popped up country, but I absolutely can’t stand bro-country.
A little off-topic but take Carrie Underwood and Something in the Water for example,
wonderful voice and lyrics but the music is not country whatsoever. Carrie Underwood cant even be called pop-Country, she’s more like Pop with a tiny bit of country influence and it should be the other way around. Not as bad as bro country but still sad to see traditional country and country with just a pinch of pop influence all but gone. I’m only 19 and my friends just eat up all that crap on today’s country radio.
January 18, 2015 @ 10:53 pm
“Highway 20 Ride”, in particular, is so exquisitely written and sung that it is difficult to hear it without tearing up at least a little.
This song actually received heavy radio play and reached #1 back in 2010. Can you imagine such a song coming anywhere close to #1 today? Things like this are what truly make me despair about how far country music has fallen in just four years. It feels like something fundamental about the genre has died.
January 13, 2015 @ 6:12 am
This song seems very modern and very different from what ZBB is truly capable of. Even though its better than the other shit that’s out there, the first few seconds is very cookie cutter. That’s as far as I got, still love the group but personally this was a swing and a miss.
January 18, 2015 @ 8:44 am
So you like the band, then listened to the first few seconds, lost interest and dismissed the song and consider it a miss?
January 13, 2015 @ 7:39 am
Not their best but it’d be good for tailgating or a nice weekend day outside grilling. I still think they’ve had some absolute gems as album cuts both in traditional country (Cold Hearted, Lance’s Song) and Southern rock (Make This Day). I’d also like to hear their first album (Home Grown) re-released; there’s some excellent songwriting there.
January 13, 2015 @ 8:13 am
While I do like some of their music, I find it too reminiscent of James Taylor and equally as dull.
January 13, 2015 @ 8:23 am
I didn’t come to this site or this music from the perspective of someone who was let down by mainstream country. I kind of got into alt.country via indie rock & alternative in the 90s mixed in with an appreciation for some of the classic country & country rock I grew up hearing as a kid – and eventually the kind of stuff that Trig promotes became my main bag so to speak.
That said, I flipped over to a mainstream country station a few months back and the first thing I heard was ZBB, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was & I thought maybe I ought to give some of this stuff a 2nd chance. Then some bro song came on afterwards and I realized the error of my thinking!
January 13, 2015 @ 8:48 am
Just reminds me of how much better Neil Young’s “Homegrown” was, from the American Stars ‘n Bars lp.
January 14, 2015 @ 1:01 pm
Love that song
January 13, 2015 @ 11:44 am
For me, this is a listen one time song. It’s not horrible, but it feels like if this came on the radio I’d change the channel because I’d already be bored with it.
January 14, 2015 @ 1:00 pm
As a man trying too hard to like the ZBB, this does not do it for me. All that’s missing is a shout out to the troops during the bridge at the end and we have “Chicken Refried.”
I’m never going to “get it” when it comes to these guys, so I’ll just stop trying.
January 14, 2015 @ 5:05 pm
Pretty boring song. Its not bad but its definitely not great either. Typical Zac Brown Band as of late.
January 14, 2015 @ 11:22 pm
This one grew on me. It’s not earth shattering, and the lyrics border on trite, but it still delivers that “feel good” vibe pretty well. The vocal harmonies help and sharp production definitely help. (I love the part near the bridge when the instruments all drop out for a moment and then the drum kicks back in.) This is one of those crowd-pleasing singles that keep ZBB in the game as a mainstream country band.
Oh, and I dig the artwork on the single.