Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

Special Episode: Open Book with Jenna Featuring Zac Brown
Date: September 18, 2025
Host: Jenna Bush Hager (substituting for Willie Geist)
Guest: Zac Brown
Main Theme: Zac Brown discusses his upcoming album Love and Fear, the band's ambitious residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, and his creative process.

Episode Overview

In this special premiere of "Open Book with Jenna," Jenna Bush Hager sits down with Zac Brown, frontman of the Zac Brown Band and three-time Grammy winner. The discussion dives deep into Brown's major new artistic chapter: his album Love and Fear, the immersive Sphere residency in Las Vegas, and his unwavering commitment to crafting art without limits. Brown discusses embracing vulnerability, sharing his redemption story, collaborating with unique artists, and reinventing live music on a spectacular scale.

Key Discussion Points

1. The Scope and Vision of the Sphere Residency

[00:40 - 04:38]

• Major Life and Career Changes:

  • Zac reflects on sending his daughter off to college, calling it "bittersweet."
  • Mentions how he’s juggled parenthood with an intensive 3-year writing process for Love and Fear.

• The Sphere Experience:

  • “The show at Sphere has been my baby for the last 14 months, making all the content, you know, you're only limited by your imagination and your budget.” (Zac Brown, [00:53])
  • Brown shares the immense effort put into every creative aspect: "I've been putting literally every bit of resource and time and energy and everything into this album and into what we're going to do there. Because what we're going to do there is not what people might expect." (Zac Brown, [01:06])
  • He describes the show as a highly personal "hero’s journey," sharing stories and struggles never before revealed.

2. Exploring the Album’s Core Themes: Love and Fear

[02:28 - 03:33]

• Conceptual Foundation:

  • Jenna frames "love and fear" as opposite drives for human action, to which Zac responds, "Every decision you make can be based on one of those two things. So that's really my guiding force in my life." (Zac Brown, [02:37])
  • He expresses a commitment to making choices rooted in love, not fear, despite inevitable criticism.

• Art and Authenticity:

  • Zac emphasizes the need for extraordinary effort to do something extraordinary: "If you know who you are, if you have something to say and you want to do something extraordinary, it requires an extraordinary effort." (Zac Brown, [02:52])
  • He discusses his passion for art and the decision to collaborate with visual artists to create bespoke elements for the show.

3. Collaboration with Artist Luis Marcoja

[03:33 - 04:38]

• Discovering and Partnering with Marcoja:

  • Brown tells the story of connecting with Luis Marcoja, Salvador Dali’s former protégé:
    • "I ended up finding one of his paintings. And I was like, who is this guy?...He’s super eclectic, but super gifted." (Zac Brown, [03:28])
  • Marcoja has painted original oil pieces inspired by the album’s songs, which will come alive in the show.

• Immersive Visual Storytelling:

  • The performance will feature cinematic and surreal visuals, including scenes of Zac himself underwater with sharks, performing stunts, and using high-tech cameras, all in pursuit of making the show uniquely memorable.

4. The DIY Ethic and Ambition Behind the Project

[04:38 - 06:00]

• Independence:
  • "We're doing this fully independent. Like, we're not using a record label. We're doing everything in house and everything in the sphere you have to do yourself." (Zac Brown, [04:44])
• Creative Control:
  • Brown details overseeing every aspect—visuals, wardrobe, choreography, lighting, staging—and reflects on the enormous workload.
  • "This is the greatest, like, mountain of work I've ever had to do. But it's super fulfilling." (Zac Brown, [04:56])
• Financial and Creative Risks:
  • Explains the high stakes of the Sphere residency: "You can't tour before that...you have to invest all the money to do it, but it's all a worthy cause." (Zac Brown, [05:53])

5. Zac Brown’s Creative Curiosity

[06:00 - 06:55]

• Jenna's Insight:
  • She highlights Zac's intensity as a student of every project, calling him a “real student, it feels like” for the depth and devotion he shows.
• Self-Description:
  • Zac proudly admits, "I'm a rabbit hole guy, you know, anything that I'm learning about, I want to do a full deep dive and that goes into everything." (Zac Brown, [06:17])
  • He shares hobbies like knife-making and spearfishing, rarely discussed, illustrating his wide-ranging passions.
  • Ultimately, Brown considers himself a fan first: "I'm a music fan first and so what...do I want that experience to be if I'm a fan in the show and getting to see it and working backwards from that experience. So this is our masterpiece so far." (Zac Brown, [06:51])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ambition and Vulnerability:
  “All the struggles that we go through as humans at the time are really hard, but those are the things that kind of define who we are and make us resilient, give us our character, our strength, help us find that code that we live by. And that's what the show's about. So it’s just really about just the hero’s journey that we all have in life. But I’m sharing my personal details of it, which I never have before.”
  — Zac Brown ([01:46])

• On the Creative Process:
  “We needed something, we needed a spectacle to kind of show our dedication to our craft.”
  — Zac Brown ([02:56])

• On Artistic Collaboration:
  “I get to know the artists that are creating things...So I had to make an original oil painting of the songs based on the content and that surrealistic kind of a style.”
  — Zac Brown ([03:41])

• On Independence:
  "We're doing this fully independent...And this is the greatest, like, mountain of work I've ever had to do. But it’s super fulfilling."
  — Zac Brown ([04:44])

• On Curiosity and Mastery:
  "I'm a hyper curious person. So with this...thinking about and I'm a music fan first...this is our masterpiece so far.”
  — Zac Brown ([06:17], [06:51])

Key Segment Timestamps

• 00:40 — Zac Brown on Sphere show, family, and the making of Love and Fear
• 01:46 — Defining the personal and universal “hero’s journey” told in the show
• 02:37 — How “love and fear” guide every creative and life decision
• 03:28 — The story of discovering and collaborating with artist Luis Marcoja
• 04:44 — Why the project is fully independent (no record label) and the fulfillment of total creative control
• 05:53 — The financial and career risks of taking on the Sphere residency
• 06:17 — Zac describes his deep-dive, obsessive approach to every passion, beyond music

Tone & Flow

The episode is candid and conversational, imbued with Zac Brown’s heartfelt passion for his craft and Jenna’s curiosity and warmth. Brown’s energy oscillates between the intensity of a craftsman and the vulnerability of a storyteller eager to connect with audiences both old and new.

Summary Takeaway

Zac Brown’s upcoming Las Vegas Sphere residency and new album Love and Fear represent a daring leap—personally and artistically—into uncharted territory. Brown invites fans to experience not just his music, but an immersive narrative and visual journey crafted with uncompromising independence, deep artistry, and a reverence for authenticity. His story is a celebration of creative risk, curiosity, and leading with love, not fear.