Zac Brown Band, Hank Jr. offer new sounds

Welcome Home

With "Welcome Home," the Zac Brown Band continues to do what it does best, which is making quality roots music. In fact, one of the album's songs is even titled "Roots." Brown may not be the most religious guy, but his latest songs focus on many truly spiritual cornerstones of life: family and friends. Both "Family Table" and "My Old Man" find Brown reflecting on his family life, with the latter also looking at 'the here and now' of being a father himself. ...

It's About Time

After 70 million records and 100 charting singles, does Hank Jr. have anything left to prove? Nope, but it is after all, a family tradition - so here he is, at age 66, with his first release on a new label exclusive to Hall of Famer types (Reba, Martina McBride), looking to strike gold one more time. The Bocephus blueprint hasn't changed much since the late '80s. We've come to expect guest stars, loads of songwriters and a dip into the great American music catalog. ...

Jekyll + Hyde

Fans looking for the Zac Brown Band of 2005 won't find it in "Jekyll + Hyde" - there's nothing but an aftertaste of the Georgia group's chicken-fried origins. That might be why the album's name is so appropriate. Fans have gotten to know the country-folk band, but a deviant creeps in on all 16 tracks of its fourth album. And, like the classic story, Hyde stands out as more interesting. It hits hard, too. The opener, "Beautiful Drug," has an electric-pop ...