Zac Brown Band - "Sweet Annie" (Read 789 times)

[Jhomes87]

Zac Brown Band - "Sweet Annie"

CLICK HERE to Listen! (YouTube)

Songwriters: Zac Brown, Wyatt Durette, Sonia Leigh, and John Pierce
Single Release Date: August 12 (Southern Ground Records)
Source: Billboard & Country Aircheck

Chart Run:

[country65]

Zac Brown Band slows it down with this single. I like the way they seem to continue to mix up their single choices, so we are not always getting the same type of song released over and over as some artists seem to do. I enjoy this and should do well for them. I think this could go number 1 depending on the competition when they get close. I see one of the song writers is Sonia Leigh. I know her first two singles didn't do well. I wonder if she will get another shot? Although I don't think she is the kind of artist radio would play right now.

[Jhomes87]

Sept 1, 2013 17:11:58 GMT -6 country65 said:

Zac Brown Band slows it down with this single. I like the way they seem to continue to mix up their single choices, so we are not always getting the same type of song released over and over as some artists seem to do. I enjoy this and should do well for them. I think this could go number 1 depending on the competition when they get close. I see one of the song writers is Sonia Leigh. I know her first two singles didn't do well. I wonder if she will get another shot? Although I don't think she is the kind of artist radio would play right now.

I also like how they mix things up with their singles, and they always sound different than everyone else. Ever since "As She's Walking Away" and "Colder Weather", this group has become one of my favorite groups. I'm a little concerned, however, about this one on the radio, as it's had quite the slow start these last few weeks. "Jump Right In" did hit #2 but it labored to get there and spent a long time on the chart, and was one of the poorest-selling singles of the summer. Despite the massive hit that was "Goodbye In Her Eyes" and the Grammy win for Uncaged, it really seems like the attention right now is more on The Band Perry and Florida Georgia Line...the ZBB seems to have less momentum.

I do think this will be a hit but I often wonder just how well the promo staff at Southern Ground matches up against the other, bigger labels. If the ZBB had never made a name for themselves with "Chicken Fried" and their early hits, and never had all of them promoted by Bigger Picture, there is no way that a group would be able to 'break' itself by starting on their own label. For example, if a new group came along with a song that sounded like a hit, but they were on their own label (we'll call it Country Hit Records), it wouldn't do much simply because no one knew who they were. Fortunately, the ZBB was able to make that name for themselves and now being completely on their own label at this point in their career does make sense. They can do things their own way and release music when they choose.

I like this song a lot and I'm sure it can at least make the top 10 but I'm not sure if it'll be able to get much higher than that. I just have that sense that their momentum is lower and won't bounce back much until their next album. The one song on the album that I think could've been an easy #1 is "Day That I Die", so I'm a little disappointed that they didn't opt for that song as a single instead, since it was the other front-runner. Still, I'd take "Sweet Annie" over much of what's played on the radio today, as this is actually a well-written country song...so many other popular songs today are severely lacking in the lyrical department and they hardly sound country either.

As for Sonia Leigh, she was probably never going to be a straight-up country artist. She was signed to Zac's label but the website no longer lists her, which is a new change that must've happened sometime within the past few weeks. Hopefully she can still find success making the type of music she loves, and maybe doing some more songwriting as well. Even if "Sweet Annie" only peaks at, say, #8, that's a big payday for any songwriter.

[country65]

I am hearing this on the radio often now and am still enjoying it. Should be in the Top 10 soon. Has there been talk of a video or is it already out?

[Jhomes87]

I think the video recently came out for this, but I haven't seen it yet. In any case, this is doing pretty well, although, like "Jump Right In", it has moved up the charts slower than the big hits from their previous albums. The difference is that both JRI and SA took more time to get into the top 20, but from there JRI moved up pretty nicely and SA is now doing the same.

I saw these guys in concert about 2 weeks ago or so and they were pretty impressive. The only new song they performed was "Day For The Dead", and that's also what they performed on the CMA's this past week. They did make it available on iTunes, and so that has me worried that they might pull "Sweet Annie" prematurely. The Zac Brown Band is one of those artists for whom the charts don't seem to move fast enough, and I remember they threw "The Wind" out to radio right as "No Hurry" was peaking. They also threw "As She's Walking Away" out to radio the very day that "Free" hit #1, and they don't allow for a lot of time to pass between when that lead single hits the airwaves and when they release the new album.

I also remember an interview from the Grammy's back in February in which Zac said they wanted to have their next album out by the end of the year (which obviously isn't happening). I remember thinking, then, that "Jump Right In" would probably be the last single from Uncaged, so I was actually quite surprised that they released "Sweet Annie", since its release wouldn't allow for enough time to get a new album out by the end of the year.

It'll be interesting to see if they let "Sweet Annie" rise naturally into the top 5, or if they pull it and release a brand new single in January.

[country65]

The video for this is out and was already out when I posted my earlier comment. I watched it on their website. It has shots of one of the band member's recent wedding. I saw these guys in concert a couple of years ago and I agree they put on an awesome show. If you ever get the chance to see them don't miss it.