Zac Brown Band

Chris Fryar

• Drummer

Clay Cook

• Guitarist, organist, mandolinist, and vocalist

Coy Bowles

• Guitarist and organist

Daniel de los Reyes

• Percussionist

Jimmy De Martini

• Violinist and vocalist

John Driskell Hopkins

• Bassist and vocalist

Matt Mangano

• Bassist

Zac Brown

• Guitarist and vocalist

Contribution: The Zac Brown Band is a country rock band that won the Grammy Award for best new artist in 2010. The group’s 2012 album, Uncaged, won the 2013 Grammy for best country album.

Background

Zac Brown, the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter for the Zac Brown Band, was born on July 31, 1978, in Cumming, Georgia. He began playing guitar as a child and performed throughout his teen and college years. He later met songwriter Wyatt Durrette, with whom he wrote many songs that would later become hits for the Zac Brown Band, including “Chicken Fried” and “Highway 20 Ride.”

Durrette introduced Brown to Jimmy De Martini, a violinist and singer who had previously spent four years playing with a well-known Dave Matthews Band tribute band. Brown and De Martini founded what would become the Zac Brown Band, and in 2005, they were joined by John Driskell Hopkins, whom Brown had met at an open mike in 1998. Hopkins had previously been the vocalist of the band Brighter Shade and helped produce the early Zac Brown Band album Home Grown (2005). When Brown learned that Hopkins was a bassist as well as a singer, he invited him to join the band.

The next musician to join the band was Coy Bowles, who plays guitar and organ and also writes songs. After attending the University of West Georgia, where he met Brown, Bowles founded the band Coy Bowles and the Fellowship. In 2006, the group opened for the Zac Brown Band at a bar in Alabama, and shortly afterward, Brown called to invite Bowles to join his group. Two years later, Brown, De Martini, Hopkins, and Bowles were joined by drummer Chris Fryar, as well as Douglas “Clay” Cook, who sings and plays several instruments, including guitar and mandolin. Fryar played with a number of bands before joining the Zac Brown Band, and Cook, who attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, had previously collaborated with musician John Mayer.

In 2012, occasional collaborator Daniel de los Reyes became the next official member of the Zac Brown Band. A percussionist whose father and grandfather were world-renowned musicians, he had previously played and recorded with a host of artists, including Sting, Billy Joel, and Stevie Nicks. Matt Mangano, a bassist, joined the band in 2014.

Career

Prior to signing with a record label, the early incarnations of the Zac Brown Band recorded two self-released albums, Far from Einstyne (2004) and Home Grown (2005). The band later signed with Atlantic Records, which released the band’s first major-label album, The Foundation, in 2008. The album’s first single, “Chicken Fried,” became a surprise smash hit, propelling The Foundation to number two on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The Zac Brown Band followed the song with two more hits, “Whatever It Is” and “Toes.” “Chicken Fried” was nominated for a Grammy Award, as was the album as a whole. Although the band did not win those awards, Brown and his fellow musicians ultimately took home the 2010 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

In 2009 and 2010, the band released two live albums, Live from Bonnaroo 2009 and Pass the Jar (2010), Live from Bonnaroo was an extended piece (EP) of the latter live album, In 2010, they released the studio album You Get What You Give (2010). Many of the tracks on this album grew out of songs the band had honed during live performances. The album also featured some notable guest performers, including Jimmy Buffett. The song “As She’s Walking Away,” featuring veteran country singer Alan Jackson, won the band a second Grammy, this time for best country collaboration with vocals.

Brown and his bandmates again mined their extensive stockpile of unfinished and unrecorded material when assembling their next album, 2012’s Uncaged. This creative process proved successful, and Uncaged won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album in 2013. Their next studio album, Jekyll + Hyde, followed in 2015. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard Top Country Album chart and soon went platinum.

The Zac Brown Band’s sixth and seventh studio albums, Welcome Home (2017) and The Owl (2019), respectively, did not produce the same sales as their previous albums. They did, however, both peak at number one on the Billboard Top Country Album chart.

In June 2021, the band released the single “Same Boat,” which became their first number one single in five years. This was followed by the release of the album The Comeback in October of the same year. A reimagined and remastered version of the album was released in 2022. It included tracks with Jimmy Buffett, Blake Sheldon, and others. Near the end of 2022, the band announced that Caroline Jones had been added as the Zac Brown Band’s first female member. She was not totally new to the band, however, having toured with them since 2017 as a special guest.

An EP titled No Wake Zone was released in 2024, a set of five tracks from their popular albums. In December 2025, the Zac Brown Band released its eighth album titled Love & Fear, a studio album that included a twenty-piece choir. On the day of the release, the band also kickstarted a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Impact

The Zac Brown Band deviates from traditional country music by incorporating elements of reggae, rock, and bluegrass, and this blending of musical styles has earned the band comparisons to acts such as the Dave Matthews Band and Jimmy Buffett. The band has succeeded in capturing a wide audience and achieving both critical and commercial success, with Uncaged debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.

Personal Life

Brown and his wife, Shelly, have four daughters. In addition to playing with the Zac Brown Band, he has founded the record company Southern Ground Artists, established a nonprofit children’s camp in Georgia, and published a cookbook. The other band members have pursued a variety of personal and side projects alongside their work with the group. Bassist Hopkins released an album titled Daylight with the bluegrass group Balsam Range in 2012. Bowles published the children’s book Amy Giggles—Laugh Out Loud in 2011. Fryar continues to work on solo projects while performing in the band, and De los Reyes owns a company called DrumJungle, which produces percussion events.

Bibliography

Budnick, Dean. “Zac Brown Band: Everywhere Is Southern Ground.” Relix, 9 July 2013, relix.com/articles/detail/zac_brown_band_everywhere_is_southern_ground/. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

Caramanica, Jon. “Reviving the Intimacy of Old With Homespun Harmonies.” The New York Times, 18 Nov. 2012.

Cole, Jennifer V. “Dishing with Zac Brown.” Southern Living, 1 Aug. 2012.

Inskeep, Steve, and Phil Harrell. “Zac Brown Shares His Harrowing Childhood Story on ‘Love & Fear’.” NPR, 8 Dec. 2025, www.npr.org/2025/12/04/nx-s1-5550988/zac-brown-band-love-and-fear. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

Mayerle, Jennifer. “Grammy Winning Zac Brown Band Stays Grounded in Georgia Roots.” CBS Atlanta, 10 Mar. 2013.

McGuigan, Molly, and Andrea Simpson. “Caroline Jones, the Only Female Member of Zac Brown Band, Talks Country Music, Motherhood and More (Exclusive).” US Weekly, 14 May 2024, www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/zac-brown-bands-caroline-jones-on-country-music-and-motherhood/. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

Snyder, Ryan. “Zac Brown Gives Country and Jam Fans the Best of Both Worlds.” Yes! Weekly, 3 June 2009.