''The Foundation'' is the first major-label studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

band

Zac Brown Band Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini ( fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukul ...

. It was released on November 18, 2008. Originally slated for release on the Home Grown label and Big Picture Records, the album is distributed by Atlantic Nashville in association with those two labels. The financing for the album was provided by Atlanta, GA entrepreneur Braden Copeland through his investment company Braden Copeland Ventures, LLC. On December 2, 2009, the album was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Country Album The Grammy Award for Best Country Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the country music genre. Honors in ...

. and also earned the band the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

on January 31. The album also has been nominated for the 2010

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academ ...

"Album of the Year" award. As of September 2015, the album has sold 3.4 million copies in the US.

Content

The album includes five

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, starting with "

Chicken Fried "Chicken Fried" is a song by American country music group Zac Brown Band, which frontman Zac Brown co-wrote with Wyatt Durrette. The song was first recorded in 2003 for the 2005 album ''Home Grown''. A second version was then released in 2006 by ...

," which the band had previously recorded on its 2005 self-released album ''Home Grown''. One year later,

The Lost Trailers The Lost Trailers are an American country music band. Established in 2000, the band originally comprised Ryder Lee (lead vocals, keyboards), Manny Medina (guitar), Andrew Nielson (bass guitar), Stokes Nielson (vocals, lead guitar), and Jeff Potte ...

released this song as a single on

BNA Records BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, was a label group that shared ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, ...

, but the label withdrew the single after Brown changed his mind about licensing the song. The Zac Brown Band's rendition became a Number One country hit on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts in December 2008. Four further singles were released from the album – " Whatever It Is," "

Toes Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being '' digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being '' pl ...

," " Highway 20 Ride" and " Free" – the latter three of which were also Number One hits. Additionally, "Different Kind of Fine" also entered the chart as an album cut from unsolicited airplay, where it reached number 55.

Track listing

Personnel

* Zac Brown – acoustic guitar, lead vocals, background vocals * Jimmy De Martini – fiddle, background vocals * Greenwood Hart – keyboards,

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

, accordion *

John Driskell Hopkins John Driskell Hopkins (born May 3, 1971) is best known for his role as a founding member, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the Grammy Award winning group Zac Brown Band. Hopkins co-wrote, with Zac Brown, Wyatt Durette, and Shawn ...

– bass guitar, background vocals, second lead vocals on "It's Not OK" *

Brent Mason Brent Mason (born July 13, 1959) is an American, Nashville, Tennessee-based recording studio guitarist and songwriter, performing primarily country music. Guitar World Magazine listed him as one of the "Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time". ...

– electric guitar * Marcus Petruska – drums, percussion, background vocals * Gary Prim – keyboards, Hammond B-3 organ * Joel Williams – electric guitar

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foundation (Zac Brown Band album) 2008 albums Zac Brown Band albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Keith Stegall Bigger Picture Music Group albums