Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Label Partners With Three Major Labels

Zac Brown's Southern Ground Artists has been working alone for the past year, but the label has now found a new home with three other labels.

Southern Ground has joined a partnership with Universal's John Varvatos Records, Big Machine Label Group and Republic Records. The deal includes all of Southern Ground's affiliated artists, including future Zac Brown Band releases, the next of which is scheduled for release in early 2015.

“I think we got the dream together,” Brown says. “I sought out John [Varvatos] because of his execution as a brand master with Varvatos -- I don’t think anyone’s in his league or arena in what he does. And the horsepower [Republic and Big Machine] have in what they’ve done and to have all this together is a huge deal. It’s a big day to get it together, and an evolution of the band continuing to grow and to better ourselves.”

Big Machine's Scott Borchetta, who works with Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Florida Georgia Line, says that he has wanted to work with Brown for a long time.

"From day one," he says. "So over the years, knowing him from a distance, I was always working the managers [ROAR’s Bernie Cahill and Will Ward] and just really admiring the musicianship and the trueness of everything Zac and his band stand for.”

One big plus of joining the Varvatos team is that Brown no longer has to worry about wardrobe or styling -- the fashion designer has him covered.

“What I love is that I don’t have to think about it anymore,” Brown says. “It’s executed so well, you can put that energy into other things creative. He’s got that on lockdown like nobody else.”