Song Review – Zac Brown Band’s “My Old Man”
Zac Brown promised last September that the band would be bringing the music back to its roots, and he certainly delivers on that promise with Zac Brown Band’s latest single called “My Old Man.” But how we got here and why such a return to the roots is even possible or necessary is important context, and if core Zac Brown Band fans will find enough forgiveness to allow another Zac Brown single into their hearts and iTunes libraries remains to be seen.
You can’t accurately critique “My Old Man” without citing the great Zac Brown betrayal that many fans felt after the release of his last album Jekyll+Hyde, and especially the opening song and subsequent radio single, “Beautiful Drug.” You have to understand that the Zac Brown Band wasn’t just a music troupe, it was a lifestyle for many of the Zac Brown faithful, entailing a Southern-flavored identity that included how they dressed, and even what they ate. Zac Brown-branded merch extended more into clothing, jewelry, food, and other merchandise than your average country band. It was like The Grateful Dead of country music.
And then here Zac goes pulling the rug out from many of these hardcore fans with the release of a formulaic EDM song in “Beautiful Drug,” and even worse, springing it on them right out of the chute with the last record, and then releasing it as a single even though the initial promise was they wouldn’t. Back that up with a collaboration with Avicii, another disappointing EDM effort from Jekyll+ Hyde called “Tomorrow Never Comes,”—not to mention the revelation that a police report put Zac Brown in a hotel room with hookers and blow at two in the morning—and many Zac Brown Band fans turned their backs and vowed to never come back. Today, the name “Zac Brown” is a very touchy, polarizing subject in country music—the reception to “My Old Man” notwithstanding.
So Zac Brown decided to enact a big reset. He’s sequestered his weird EDM fascination in a side project called Sir Rosevelt (which somehow is even worse than “Beautiful Drug”), he booked a return to the roots-based festival MerleFest in late April, and now we get this new song that sounds like old Zac Brown at his best.
“My Old Man” is already a better-written song than 80% of what the 16-song Jekyll+Hyde album offered, and that’s with Jason Isbell contributing a track. “My Old Man” also includes more fiddle than the entirety of Jekyll+Hyde, even though the Zac Brown Band is supposed to feature a full-time fiddler. “My Old Man” is muted, rootsy, personal, and sincere. So for the moment, the Zac Brown promise of returning to some of the older form material that made him and his band one of the better listening options in mainstream country remains viable.
But to be fair, the song also follows a very oft-used country music trope of pulling on heartstrings by paying tribute to one’s father, and furthermore, doesn’t really amend that trope very much, or veer off the path. It plays it safely down the middle. So even though this effort is commendable for a major label, mainstream country outfit, when factoring in other father songs from farther afield—Margo Price’s “Hands of Time” for example—“My Old Man” feels better than average, but not entirely amazing or original. I also can’t help but trace the sedated, sparse effort back to the success of Cam’s “Burning House.”
Still, can we sound the “all clear” when it comes to the Zac Brown Band and the trespasses of the last few years? There’s at least no reason to not take Zac at his word that a shift back to the roots of the band is in store, at least for the moment. But as we’ve seen from Zac Brown in the past, he lacks a discipline to be able to focus on one thing. This isn’t about trashing other types of music that aren’t country, it’s about heeding that lesson many of our fathers taught us: do one thing and do it well.
Even more so, “My Old Man” may symbolize a greater shift amid all of country music back to the roots of the genre. Though the vestiges of Bro-Country and the EDM influence are certainly holding on for dear life as best they can, and are likely to never be completely eliminated from mainstream country, overall the shift back toward the roots is hard to not recognize, and Zac Brown’s decision to follow this trend is not only welcome by many of his fans, but is smart and sound business.
We’ll still have to see if his next album holds form in total, but this is a good start.
February 5, 2017 @ 11:06 am
I’ve never been able to completely define how I feel about ZBB. I’ve heard a lot of positive buzz about their latest single and I’m glad to hear it’s more like their “original” sound. I’ve always enjoyed the majority of their music, but then there are times where it’s like their latest song will just sound like a remake of their last single with slightly different arrangements….so I can’t fully invest in them. I am looking forward to this new album, though, and I really hope it’s a good one.
February 9, 2017 @ 8:50 am
It’s sad how hardcore country music fans can’t enjoy any other kind of music. That last album was amazing, along with the rest of his music.
February 9, 2017 @ 9:15 am
Haha are you referring to me as “hardcore country music fan”? That makes me laugh…
February 5, 2017 @ 11:29 am
Huh, I completely and totally agree with Trigger on this song. It’s good, but a little to treacly to be great. I sort of view Jekyl & Hyde like I view Sailor’s guide to earth. Except Sturgill is better than ZBB & I way prefer rock to EDM.
I’m hoping on the album to get some really good uptempo fiddle. Also it appears that Dave Cobb is producing it.
February 5, 2017 @ 11:34 am
I used to be a big ZBB fan but at some point every song began to sound exactly the same. My Old Man sounds like a dozen other ZBB songs I’ve heard before.
February 5, 2017 @ 11:39 am
This is exactly what I mean….they just aren’t very versatile, even when they try to be…
February 5, 2017 @ 12:21 pm
I like this song a lot and hope they return to what they do best, in my opinion these are the types of songs they are best at. They are so talented if they will harness it all in the right direction. I have only seen them one time live, but I was blown away. They are one of the tightest bands that I have ever seen live. I have seen Sturgill and Stapleton four or five times and never have I seen their bands as tight as the ZBB was that night I saw them. Its like every player up there was an A+ player. While I loved the Dave Growl side project, part of me wonders if this is what kind of started them thinking about roaming a little more and in the end might have been a bad thing for them. If this song is the direction of the new album, then I am on board.
February 5, 2017 @ 4:09 pm
I think your spot on regarding DG influence. No doubt ZB’s band is one of the best. Very tight. I’ve never doubted his immense talents either and personally I prefer a band/artist do something different than what they’ve done before. ZBB music has not been my cup of tea thus far but I’ll judge them over there entire body of work. The ability is certainly there.
February 5, 2017 @ 12:27 pm
There’s no denying that the ZBB are extremely talented musicians. Live, they can bring it. However, they’re just not interesting songwriters. Their ballads always sound like James Taylor outtakes and their uptempo tunes sound like Jimmy Buffett throwaways.
Meh. “My Old Man” was pretty and touching somewhat, but I prefer Steve Goodman’s “My Old Man” as done by John Prine. That’s country that gets to the heart of the matter for me. This song’s lyrics – just like all mainstream country – are just too generic to truly connect on an emotional level, which is what was so obviously its intent. Oh, well…
February 5, 2017 @ 11:26 pm
Hey Mule,
Thank you for putting so succinctly what I was hearing:
“Their ballads always sound like James Taylor outtakes and their uptempo tunes sound like Jimmy Buffett throwaways.”
You describe what I hear perfectly.
I wanted to like Zac Brown, but I just cannot get into anything he’s written. Grandma’s Garden from Southern Family was even borderline for me. I, too, will take the Goodman version by Prine, any day.
February 5, 2017 @ 12:36 pm
I pulled out “Pass The Jar” the other day and gave it a listen. I always thought it was a decent live album and it tickled my memberberries for sure. However, it didn’t have the same appeal that it did back then. To be honest, the new ZBB sounds like more of the same. It’s not bad, don’t get me wrong. Unfortunately for ZBB, a lot of music fans have very short attention spans nowadays. I think for most fans, if they don’t hear something they like for a couple of years, because you want to experiment with EDM or something, that window closes and the fans move on to find a new band that gives them what they want. Ultimately, the fans are fickle and there’s just too much out there to scratch that itch thanks to the interwebs. We are buying the music you make. We are fans of your music, not you. It’s unrealistic to suppose that your fans are going to blindly follow you and your drum machine down every path you take, like some sort of glow stick clad pied piper. Backtracking down that path may be like trying to back over tire spikes strips in a parking lot. ZBB’s original stuff felt good to me at that time, in that place. I’m not sure I’ll be all in again, regardless of whether he returns to that sound or not. I haven’t shut the window entirely. However, a world where ZBB was in my regular rotation, was a world before Sturgill, Turnpike Troubadours, Cody Jinks, Cactus Blossoms, etc. Different time, different place.
February 5, 2017 @ 12:44 pm
Color me excited.
Now if we can just get Zac to get rid of that dumb Arby’s hat.
February 5, 2017 @ 1:53 pm
Decent. 🙂 Reminds me a bit of their cover of “Grandma’s Garden” on ‘Southern Family.’
February 5, 2017 @ 2:26 pm
Some good lines …nice treatment ….substance-driven , for sure .
While its a welcomed turn for ZBB , I found this tune generic in terms of a lack of a fresh perspective on an oft visited subject . Cliche ….but safe and certainly a better direction for these guys if they are going to continue referring to themselves as ‘ country ‘ artists.
ZB has a vocal approach which is not only unique sonically ( readily identifiable ) but which also effortlessly lends itself to these reflective kinds of sparsely -arranged songs . THAT’S his wheelhouse . Its as though Zac knows the length of his ‘creative’ tether and like a bungee cord , that tether always pulls him back to where MOST listeners find him MOST effective in delivering an honest lyric . IMHO .
February 5, 2017 @ 3:52 pm
I admit I haven’t heard the album single. I watched the pregame show. Now that I have the disclaimer out of the way. I know he’s worked hard to get where he is, but as a fellow songwriter, with all due respect, this is song drivel. A trite and insignificant tune about a crowd pleasing, heart-on-your-sleeve, sentimental topic. Nothing original lyrically and a predictable melody. My Dad by Paul Peterson is a better song. I’ve got a half dozen or more songs that are better fit for Zac.. Hey Zac, look me up. I’ll let you cover one.
February 5, 2017 @ 4:46 pm
” I’ve got a half dozen or more songs that are better fit for Zac.. Hey Zac, look me up. I’ll let you cover one. ”
Well THIS is my ongoing frustration with almost ALL of the contemporary country acts David . There are so many REAL writers committed to writing a great song and not just becoming the next bowler hat-wearing flavour -of-the-month and so many FANTASTIC songs in their catalogs that there is just no excuse whatsoever for the inferior music we’re getting from the mainstream . Most of these commercial country singer /songwriters are not very good at either of these tasks . And yet these are the people labels and radio continually force down our throats . Not only is this unfair to REAL writers ( and yes …I think we all know ….the business is unfair and that’s because it IS a business ) but its unfair to listeners and future writers and artists. The bar has been set so low now by this new singer/songwriter/” star” era that the song itself is rarely a factor in the success of the wannabe who wrote it . Its all about marketing the IMAGE – the buffed bad boy , the anthem -singing Ken doll , the ab-baring Perry sister and on and on .
The irony of this scenario is mind-boggling , to say the least . At a time when we arguably have some of the best songs that have ever been available and so many out-of-this-world gifted vocalists to deliver them , we not only get neither of these things on mainstream country radio but instead get the complete other end of the spectrum -.Inferior , forgettable poorly crafted pointless music written and delivered by generic and minimally talented singers who ,most times, had a hand in creating the drivel they are trying to sell us . WTF!
What has happened to us ? The choices the masses are making with regards to music , entertainment , nutrition , lifestyle , environment , Presidents , etc, border on insanity in an age when we have never had so much art, history , data , experience and FACT to inform us . Radio , its pretty obvious , is even more committed to style over substance than ever and the Kardashian mentality our culture has cultivated would certainly seem to be coming back to bite us big-time .
February 5, 2017 @ 3:59 pm
Yea, screw ’em. Stick with your little EDM band dude.
February 5, 2017 @ 6:02 pm
generic, boring, not a single interesting or insightful moment. see Harry Chapin or Brad Paisley for substance. puff the magic dragon” has deeper impact. it must be nice to get your song on radio just because you’re ZBB.
yay roots though
February 5, 2017 @ 6:38 pm
Totally agree. I do see similarities between how polished and formulaic this is with the direction Cody Jinks went with his latest album. I just hope he doesn’t get pulled farther in that direction of overly shiny production and more pop-ish songwriting.
February 5, 2017 @ 6:35 pm
Never been a ZBB fan. But just wanted to say that the super bowl halftime show was pretty good. It didn’t even involve any vats of dildos (or whatever Trigg said it was going to have in his recent post about Luke Bryan). : ). P.s. Bryan was a horrible pick for the national anthem, and his performance confirmed that.
February 5, 2017 @ 6:47 pm
Luke Bryan’s performance was fine, and so was Lady Gaga’s. Not my thing, but she appeared to be singing live most of the time, and got patriotic instead of political.
February 5, 2017 @ 7:06 pm
I’m skeptical and would bet cash that “hi mom” was scripted to be the the sole live audio window — to create the illusion of a live performance and give Germanotta her hi mom and dad moment (probably stipulated in her contract). maybe the whole piano bit was live, but i doubt it.
yes, she can sing, etc
February 5, 2017 @ 7:45 pm
Definitely a live vocal performance by Gaga. It is well known that vocals at these big events are done live (and her performance showed that). The instruments are a different story..,see the red hot chili peppers performance from a few years ago. She was impressive too (hope that doesn’t hurt my country cyber cred!). On the Bryan front, I can agree with the “fine” comment, but the bigger point is that it’s a head scratcher why such a mediocre vocalist would be chosen to sing such a big solo vocal opportunity like that. I think everyone here agrees on that though, so probably a moot point!
February 5, 2017 @ 8:13 pm
I’m skeptical also…it sounded too smooth…there’s no way with all that jumping around…but hey, maybe I’m wrong. Either way, she was fine, just not my cup of tea. And I don’t like Luke Bryan but he was fine too.
February 5, 2017 @ 8:52 pm
Isn’t “this land is your land a protest song”? Especially with the unrecorded verses that Seger then sang. Luke was smart enough to not try to do more then he could. Gaga was probably doing a mix of live and track, it was definitely a hot mic though, you could hear her breathing. Like her music or not, she has talent (I like some of it)
February 5, 2017 @ 8:56 pm
(but yeah, it was mostly about patriotism, and what America is)
February 5, 2017 @ 9:39 pm
Gaga’s getting roasted for not being political enough by the left. “This Land Is Your Land?” Please. They need their indignation justified. It’s not political unless it allows you to get pissed off at someone who thinks different than you. Gaga played it right. She brought people together through music. Anyone trying to make it political on either side or not satisfied it wasn’t political enough is insulting her efforts.
February 5, 2017 @ 9:45 pm
I agree with you. I’ve just been highly amused tonight by the number of people on both sides who don’t know the roots of that song. Protest roots aside, it’s actually one of my favorite songs back to when I was a kid for the message it expresses.
February 5, 2017 @ 10:04 pm
I thought Gaga played it about as well as one should hope for in a setting like this, and I say that as a conservative-leaning fellow who mostly likes traditional-leaning country and bluegrass. I think Prince’s performance years back was the best Super Bowl halftime of the last decade or so, but hers was in the upper half.
February 5, 2017 @ 10:31 pm
A mix of live and track makes sense for sure. To be fair I couldn’t hear certain portions of it all that well…it was loud where we were. Totally agree she has talent. I’m not into her music…but I won’t deny she is good at what she does.
February 5, 2017 @ 7:56 pm
“Are often done live” I should say. This looks to be one of those instances. I was also a little shocked that I recognized all of those songs, even though I have never owned any Gaga. Shows you how pervasive pop music is I guess.
February 6, 2017 @ 6:04 am
Recently saw that the awful side project Sir Rosevelt is now label-less. You may recall they had a release date all set for the entnire album, and it could be pre-bought on iTunes. Now? It’s gone.
On a Facebook post on Jan 24, they say:
“Good news: we’re signing a new record deal which will be great for the band and the music. Bad news: it means we were not able to release the album as originally planned. We don’t want to promise you a new release date that could be pushed back again, so please be patient with us and we’ll announce the FINAL release date on our socials soon.”
For the benefit of ZBB fans this is good news as so many albums never survive the dreaded label switch. I suppose its bad news for ZBB fans if they continue to be strongheaded in trying to make this available to the masses. The couple songs I had heard were atrocious music.
February 6, 2017 @ 7:17 am
““My Old Man” is already a better-written song than 80% of what the 16-song Jekyll+Hyde album offered, and that’s with Jason Isbell contributing a track”. Trigger, please tell me you meant that Isbell contributed to the 20% of quality…not part of the junk that makes up most of that album?
February 6, 2017 @ 2:54 pm
It’s part of the quality. I took it as being included to show that if you remove it, then the album would be 85% crap since ZBB wrote the rest of the album
February 6, 2017 @ 3:22 pm
Yes, that is what I was trying to say, though I admittedly had a hard time wording it.
February 6, 2017 @ 8:38 am
Let’s see, when crap was king, ZBB were in the crap game. Now that the tide has turned, and roots music is on the way up, they want to get back in that game. They are incredibly talented musicians who are attempting to be savvy businessmen.
February 6, 2017 @ 2:24 pm
Agreed, I personally will not forgive the sins of the past for any of these artists. I’ll stick by the ones who helped turn the tide instead. That’s where my money will be going.
February 7, 2017 @ 12:23 pm
Zac Brown IS a businessman. He has admitted this himself in previous interviews with the desire to build a brand with his music in addition to his sauces and other side passions.
February 7, 2017 @ 10:22 am
I’ve always viewed ZBB as a talented bunch of guys who put on a really great live show and have songs that the masses can enjoy or sing to.
Some of their stuff is deeper than others, but I never think of them as serious songwriting, lets sit around and think about what it means, music.
They kind of have the same vibe as Jimmy Buffet or Dave Matthews band to me.
I saw them live and have been entertained.
I listen to the music and am not turned off by it, I just kinda go with it.
They are what they are. People like em.
At least they write their songs and play their instruments..
February 7, 2017 @ 12:21 pm
I never doubted, when Zac had announced that they were “going back to their roots, ‘Foundation’-style”, that they would own up to their word. After all, “JEKYLL + HYDE” was their only album that had transpired between where some longtime fans felt they were starting to go astray and where they remained at the top of their game (“The Grohl Sessions: Volume I”).
The longer seasoned artists go into their recording careers and trudge further away from their roots, it stands to reason it will be less likely they can ever truly return in earnest because one’s creative headspace and experience is clearly residing elsewhere. But with the Zac Brown Band, they had only stepped out beyond the balustrade for two years so I thought all the “I’ll believe it when I hear it myself!” skepticism was misplaced.
*
And as it has turned out, they’re (mostly) delivering on their word here.
This song is by no means perfect, but it IS about as perfect a return to home as I imagine their most longtime fans could have ever hoped for stylistically.
*
First, I’ll just go ahead and get my primary criticism out of the way: “My Old Man” still doesn’t feel like a full band collaboration.
Look, for the sake of dynamics, I get why they’re naturally releasing something most intimate and understated after an era of comparable polish and excess (for the most part). But to my ears at least, this still sounds like a Zac Brown solo effort with Jimmy De Martini making a feature fiddle appearance at the end and the other band members serving as session back-up vocalists.
And lest we forget, there were moments on “JEKYLL + HYDE” in which did come across as convincing collaborative efforts. “Bittersweet” sounded like more of a group effort than this does, as did “Remedy”, “Junkyard” and their cover of Jason Isbell’s “Dress Blues”. For a Zac Brown solo effort, this sounds great, but it can’t help but underwhelm as a return effort under the Zac Brown Band moniker.
*
Looking past that impossible-to-ignore thought, though, this is undoubtedly a solid, well-rounded effort from the lyrics to the vocals to the harmonies.
I was concerned early in the song that the lyrics would instantly devolve to cheesiness because, let’s be honest: father-dad songs usually are. But Zac Brown wisely refrains from trying to reach for a higher key or “Eureka” moment and just summarizes his evolving experience as a father himself and what he hopes he will instill in his son. It makes for a most believable, genuinely heartfelt effort that doesn’t overstay its welcome or come across more as a parody of a sentimental tearjerker than an intimate song about the spiritual bond of a father and son.
Again, the group’s signature vocal harmonies are not all that present here outside the titular chant in the chorus, but they work well where they resonate. I’d say Brown’s vocal is the single strongest feature of this effort in that, as we know all too well, it has a distinctive well-worn flavor that contributes a great deal to the intended, biographical feel of the song.
*
In the end, this lacks the interplay and instrumental flavor of the band at its primordial core. When I think “The Foundation”, I think intimate, acoustic-driven instrumentation spiced up with group harmonies, its members exchanging their own instrumental solos, and a rustic, hickory-scented ambiance to the presentation. This……………..doesn’t exactly feel like that. It sounds more like an exquisitely-engineered Zac Brown solo cut performed live in studio at KDHX or something (which, mind you, isn’t a bad thing.)
Still, this is a solid offering with honest lyrics, solid vocals and a downhome intimacy that I’ll instantaneously root for over 95% of all else clogging the mainstream country/”country” chart right now. It’s damn good if short of great.
I’m thinking a very Strong 7 out of 10 for this.
February 8, 2017 @ 2:56 pm
Sometimes bands need to stretch their fan’s expectations. I think the job has a James Taylor vibe. Does it remind me of previous ZBB songs? Yes.. But after an artist has put out an X number of albums, there are always going to be comparisons to their earlier work. As much as I love Miranda’s new album, I have to say I had a few “been there, done that” moments.
February 12, 2017 @ 8:14 pm
I read this site and comments section a lot, but rarely ever leave a reply. I sometimes get confused by what I read. ZBB goes back to roots and many are saying meh sounds like same old, but the second Sturgill makes something that doesn’t sound like the same old and the sky is falling. ZBB has never been straight country. But good music is good music and they blow you away live. And I don’t care what anybody says…they were dabbling in Americana and trying to keep country radio untainted long before most people knew there was a problem.
July 14, 2017 @ 9:12 pm
I remember this song back when Alan Jackson wrote it. Remember when?