PANDEMIC-PRODUCTIVE

Now on the road, Zac Brown Band kept busy the last year by making music

Rather than sit still during the pandemic, the Zac Brown Band jumped into writing and recording the follow-up effort to 2019 album “The Owl.” ¶ While there’s no release date for the rocking and jamming country/Southern-rock band’s seventh studio effort, the group has released a handful of songs from the untitled project.

Zac Brown Band guitarist/organist Coy Bowles said the new material continues to blow his mind.

“I’m really stoked for the fans and everybody to check it out because I remember leaving the studio the last day of recording and driving from Nashville back to Atlanta,” said Bowles, calling from his Georgia home. “I had this weird, kind of buzzy feeling going on — just out-ofbody.

“In my mind, I think something is going to happen with this one. This one has mojo, man. I was listening to the album demos on the way home over and over again. You know you have something good when you want to listen to it over and over.”

So far, the centerpiece of the unreleased album is recent single “Same Boat,” a mature message song clearly written during the 2020’s summer of civil unrest. Buoyed by melodic vocal harmonies, brisk percussion and a lively violin, the uplifting lyrics find Brown talking to both sides of the aisle about the power of empathy:

“We could all believe what we believe/And peacefully agree to disagree/But you can’t judge a man until you walk a country mile in his shoes…We all been kicked and knocked around/But you ain’t gonna keep a good man down/You can run like hell from your mistakes/But you can’t hide from your truth.”

“I love that tune,” Bowles said. “It’s got such a great message and such a great kind of classic Zac Brown Band feel to it. We’ve been having a great response playing it live. It’s got a really funky groove to it. If you don’t start tapping your foot to that tune, then you might be dead inside.”

Other recently released new tunes range from the backcountry anthem “Out in the Middle” and the Carolina Shag-esque track “Old Love Song” to the summery

jam “Paradise Lost on Me” and gut-wrenching soul tune “Stubborn Pride).”

“‘Stubborn Pride’ features Marcus King, who is

going to end up being one of the best guitar players to ever live,” Bowles said. “When we play that tune, I’m the one who plays his

guitar solo, so I’ve got big shoes to fill.

“When that solo comes up, I’m like crossing fingers saying, ‘I’ll see you guys on the other end of this thing.’ ”

Speaking of filling big shoes, the multiplatinum, Grammy Award-winning Zac Brown Band is known for its unique classic rock, grunge and old-school country covers.

“I don’t get nervous except when I’m playing some kind of iconic solo like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ ” Bowles said. “People know that guitar solo, so if you mess up the note, everybody in the crowd kind of makes a face. We’ve tried all kinds of stuff over the

years.

“We did Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ one night. We also did ‘Hunger Strike’ by Temple of the Dog. It was one of those things where I wasn’t sure the audience knew the song.”

When it’s noted the Zac Brown Band performed a spot-on version of Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” the last time through Northeast Ohio, Bowles couldn’t hold back his love of Blossom Music Center, where the group returns Aug. 20.

“Sometimes venues run together, but every time we see Blossom pop up on the schedule, I’m always like, ‘Yeah, I love going to this place.’ ”

ALEX CHAPMAN The latest full-length studio release from the Zac Brown Band is 2019’s “The Owl,” but the popular act has released songs that should also find a home on a yet-to-be-titled future album.

SOUTHERN REEL Zac Brown Band guitarist/organist Coy Bowles performs.