After 6 years of working with Atlantic Records as a partner, Zac Brown Band has finally reverted to indie status with their late 2014 release The Grohl Sessions, Vol. 1. The band’s run with Atlantic produced Three Platinum or Multi-Platinum albums, the Gold Pass The Jar live album and a string of hits including 10 #1 hits, including “Chicken Fried,” “As She’s Walking Away” and “Sweet Annie,” their final release w/Atlantic. The band’s first single from The Grohl Sessions Vol. 1 with Dave Grohl at the helm of the production is “All Alright.”
As with all of their previous songs, the song blends southern rock sounds with the sunny harmonies of great bands of yesterday with Zac’s strong Country storytelling. There’s Jimmy Di Martini’s stunning fiddle, there’s Clay Cook’s Hammond B-3 organ and strong percussion along with a stellar boogie-filled guitar solo from Coy Bowles. This is also the first single with the band’s 8th member Matt Mangano taking over bass for John Driskell Hopkins, who will play other instruments like the Banjo and Ukulele.
Everything about “All Alright” will instantly feel familiar to Zac Brown Band fans though Dave Grohl’s production certainly showcases more of the rootsy classic rock of Crosby Stills and Nash and The Eagles as much as any Country vocal band (like Exile) that Zac and company have been tied to before. The band should have no problem finding success at radio with the song though we’ll have to see whether radio takes the band’s self-issued stuff as seriously as the Atlantic-affiliated stuff (though Zac Bronw Band has self-promoted their material to radio with the last 3 hits (“Goodbye In Her Eyes,” “Jump Right In” and “Sweet Annie”). As far as singles go, “All Alright” is one of the best to hit radio in 2014 and, honestly, with the harmony and musicality there’s really nothing like it out there on radio and that alone should make it stand out.
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