Zac Brown Band

Zac Brown Band brought their hits to the Big Apple this morning, with performances of ‘Chicken Fried,’ ‘Free’ and their new single with Jimmy Buffett, ‘Knee Deep,’ on the ‘Today’ show stage. This marked the first ‘Today’ appearance for the band, and their smiling fans filled the New York streets outside the studios and sang along as if they were nestled in the sand with fruity drinks.

Though Buffett didn’t make Brown’s early morning set, the ‘Colder Weather’ hitmaker sang his praises on live television. “I think he’s one of the best American songwriters who ever lived,” Brown told the NBC audience. “I’ve been covering his songs forever, and to actually get to collaborate with some of my heroes has been some of the big milestones in my career.”
With the mention of milestones, it was brought to Brown’s attention that his 2010 album, ‘You Get What You Give,’ just went platinum. Of course, that’s in addition to eight No. 1 singles spanning the band’s relatively short career.
“You know, we travel a lot more comfortably now,” Brown told hosts Al Roker and Natalie Morales, admitting that a lot has changed in a few short years. “There’s a lot of things that have changed, but the core — we love what we do, we love our craft, we love the fans, we love to be doing what we love to do. We count our blessings every day, we get to be here and be able to do it. This is a great thing.”