Zac Brown Band photo courtesy of Atlantic Records.

After an eventful year on the charts and on the road, the Zac Brown Band has proven that "overnight success" can be years in the making. New fans drawn by the irresistible hit singles, the awe-inspiring musicianship and dynamic live shows might have thought the Zac Brown Band emerged from nowhere. In fact, the band has paid its dues for years and put in its time for just this moment, it may have happened quickly, but it's definitely built to last. Now, fueled by such honors and accolades as three GRAMMY Nominations, "Top New Vocal Group" from the Academy of Country Music Awards and "Breakthrough Video of the Year" from USA Weekend, the Zac Brown Band is preparing to move front-and-center in 2010.

No question, the past year has been dizzying for the hardworking act. The Foundation was released on November 18, 2008 on Atlantic Records and debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and No. 3 on the Top Country Albums Chart, it is now certified platinum by the RIAA. The first single "Chicken Fried" peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Chart, maintaining that position for two weeks, and also debuted as the second-most downloaded country single on iTunes. "Whatever It Is" and "Toes" both reached No. 1 and the fourth single "Highway 20 Ride" is climbing the charts, which, Brown says, meant that he'd finally achieved what had been more than a decade in the making.

"There's no way to predict how fast everything is going to come together," adds the down-to-earth Georgian. "Or that it took 13 years to get to the beginning of it."

In the fall of 2009 Zac Brown Band successfully headlined the Breaking Ground Tour "For us to come into our own, we had to make it happen as a headliner" notes the Dahlonega, Ga.-raised Brown. There's no question that the road-tested band had the chops to pull it off. In addition to bassist John Hopkins, fiddler Jimmy De Martini, guitarist/organist Coy Bowles and drummer Chris Fryar, this year the band has added multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Clay Cook, long known as a musician's musician and an MVP-caliber performer on the Georgia music scene. Cook, perhaps best known for his co-writes with Grammy-winner (and former Lo-Fi Masters bandmate) John Mayer, rounds out the ZBB sound on guitar, vocals, organ, mandolin and pedal steel.

"We've got a great following" Brown affirms. And while the band strongly identifies with country music and country radio and, of course, continues to have great success there, it's not an easily pigeonholed crowd; while loyal country fans show up in droves, the band also appeals to lovers of bluegrass, jam bands, reggae and seemingly everyone in between. It's no wonder that another famous genre-hopper, Michigan's Kid Rock, has performed with the band and given them his strong endorsement.