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In three new videos screened for the CMT New Music Video Evaluation Team this week, the Zac Brown Band head for the beach, John Rich pays musical tribute to his grandfather and other war veterans and Sarah Buxton looks out her window to see what there is to see.

Artist: Zac Brown Band
Video: “Toes”
Director: Darren Duane

Zac and the band are beach-bound in this fairly goofy story of a lottery ticket and what it means for one sort-of lucky winner. Lots of sight gags here. The song title is fairly obvious.

Panelists’ comments: “I love the dream trip to Mexico for 50 bucks.” “What was bleeped there?” “Something about a big fat one.” “That’s a fun video.”

Artist: John Rich
Excerpt from Studio 330 Sessions
Video: “The Good Lord and the Man”
Producer: Ellie Chandler

John Rich performs a serious, heartfelt tribute to his grandfather, who Rich says earned six Purple Hearts in World War II. Rich is joined in this musical salute in CMT’s Studio 330 by several veterans.

Panelists’ comments: “Wow.” “They really did a good job of making that not look like another 330 shoot.” “Yeah, a lot of the outside shots were very effective.”

Artist: Sarah Buxton
Video: “Outside My Window”
Director: Mark Hudson

Sarah Buxton gazes outside her window and then heads out in a light-hearted summer romp that borders on the psychedelic. Two of her co-writers on this song who are also artists, Victoria Shaw and Gary Burr, make cameo appearances in the video.

Panelists’ comments: “That fits her personality completely.” “She’s got this bubbly little thing about her.” “I really like the rainbow goatee.”

Zac Brown Band’s “Toes” has its debut in hot shot rotation on CMT on Monday (July 13). John Rich’s “The Good Lord and the Man” debuts in medium rotation on Tuesday (July 14).

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A live album by the Zac Brown Band will be released later this year, according to an interview with Billboard magazine.

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Zac Brown Band’s major label debut, “The Foundation,” (Atlantic Records) received its official RIAA gold certification for surpassing 500,000 copies in sales. The group will celebrate with a performance of their latest single Whatever It Is on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 29. The band’s video for their number one platinum…

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I don’t now much about live video chatting, Twittering and Ustreaming. But I do know that I love the Zac Brown Band enough to try to bring my instant-communication skills up a notch. The band will be doing this live chat on Thursday (April 23) at 7 p.m. CT. So all I have to do to get them to answer my burning questions is sign up to follow them at twitter.com/zacbrownband, and then send my questions in that way. I already know a lot about the band (like how their debut album was just certified gold, and that they’ll be on The Tonight Show on April 29), but what I do want to know is what is that “it” thing they are singing about in “Whatever It Is.” They sign off on their MySpace blog with peace, love and chicken grease, so maybe that combination is what “it” is.

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April 21, 2009 — The adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies to everything from plumbing to management to the music industry, but it’s not exactly in the Zac Brown Band’s vocabulary.

The group hit its commercial stride last year with its first No. 1 single, “Chicken Fried,” which would suggest they had their act together. But instead of playing it safe, the band went into expansion mode early this year by bringing on a new member, Clay Cook, who’s provided backing vocals, keyboard and steel guitar for the likes of John Mayer, Shawn Mullins and the Marshall Tucker Band.

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