Backyard at the Belcourt: The Zac Brown Band

Escapist country music might seem like an obvious oxymoron, but The Zac Brown Band's debut full-length The Foundation takes the concept to new levels. The Georgian Brown writes impossibly friendly songs that end up, one way or another, at the beach. On "Toes," Brown declares, "Gonna lay in the hot sun/And roll a big fat one," while "Where the Boat Leaves From" features the most genial funk rhythms in history. Think of the group as a harbinger of post-jam-band country—complete with hot picking and various well-executed genre exercises—and the achievement of The Foundation becomes clear. With its celebration of good legs, cheap rum and airplanes that take you away from Georgia, the record makes adult dilemmas seem manageable—fun, even. They bring their summery music to the Belcourt Theatre's ongoing Backyard at the Belcourt series.
Wed., Aug. 6, 7 p.m., 2008