Taylor Swift wasn’t exactly on her game when performing an offkey disaster with Stevie Nicks at the 2010 Grammys, but it didn’t seem to matter as she went home with the coveted Album of the Year honors for ‘Fearless.’ At the ripe old age of 20, she becomes the youngest artist to win the award, and the best part is she didn’t have to contend with Kanye West storming the stage to put his two cents in. Taylor took home three Grammys before the night was finished.

Beyonce also took the ceremony hostage as she took home 6 Grammy Awards which was a record by a woman artist. Among her accolades were best female pop vocal performance and song of the year for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”

Lady Gaga opened the evening in style with a theatrical performance of her hit single “Poker Face” and was joined by Sir Elton John. Other performances during the evening failed to live up to bar Gaga set. Pink had an ill-advised stripper-meets-Cirque du Soleil moment. Eminem, Lil Wayne and Drake kept the CBS editors working overtime to screen out of overflow of obscenity.

Other notable winners included Zac Brown Band as best new artist and Kings of Leon for Record of the Year for “Use Somebody,” a big upset considering their competition — Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga. Lionel Richie presented a lifetime achievement award for Michael Jackson to his children yet no apology for the lackluster tribute performance by the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Carrie Underwood.

The first round for Zac Brown Band’s West Coast dates for their “Breaking Southern Ground Tour” have been plotted behind “The Foundation,” the group’s release from 2008.

Last September, the award winning country band kicked their run off. They will be returning with a concert on March 2 in San Diego. Currently the West Coast trek, which will visit 15 cities, is scheduled to wrap up in Everett, WA on March 21.

Opening support will continue to be provided by Nic Cowan, Levi Lowrey and Sonia Leigh, three musicians based out of Atlanta. All three performers are signed with Southern Ground Records, the new label of frontman Zac Ground. Joey + Rory, are special guests new to the leg. They will be emceeing the shows.

During each of the musician’s sets, Brown will be making an appearance. All three performers will also join the full band of Brown’s towards the end of the performance each night.

In addition the new shows will be featuring the signature recipes of Brown’s. His eat-and-greets are a backstage experience that Brown provides in most cities for a handful of very lucky fans.

“The Foundation,” the first studio album on a major label for the Zac Brown Band, hit No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart following its 2008 release. Three singles were spawned that made it into the Top Ten: “Toes,” “Whatever It Is,” and “Chicken Fried.”

The band unveiled in September an exclusive “The Foundation” edition at various Cracker Barrel locations across the U.S. There are three live tracks included on the special release: “I Shall Be Released,” “I Lost It,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

The Zac Brown Band has received three 2010 Grammy Award nominations: for Best New Artist, Best Country Album (“The Foundation”), and for “Chicken Fried” Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. On January 31 Grammy winners will be revealed at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Zac Brown Band, country act based out of Atlanta, has signed a contract with Atlantic Records. “The Foundation,” the band’s new album, will be released on November 18 by Atlantic/Big Picture/Home Grown. Keith Stegall, who is also a producer for Alan Jackson, produced the new album.

The band is comprised of Zac Brown, singer and guitarist, Jimmy De Martini, fiddler, John Hopkins, bassist, Coy Bowles, guitarist and organist, and Chris Fryar, drummer.

“Chicken Fried,” the band’s infectious first single, currently is in the No. 6 spot on the Hot Country Songs chart and at No. 36 of the Hot 100 chart. The song has 161,000 digital download sales and also appears on “Home Grown,” the band’s 2004 album.

The band is an aggressive touring group and performs as many as 250 dates in a year. They have appeared on stage with ZZ Top, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Los Lonely Boys, Alan Jackson and Sugarland among others.

Craig Kallman, chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records said through his prepared statement, The Zac Brown Band has made themselves into an American success story. They have been able to build up an incredible grassroots base through their music. It crosses over musical boundaries as well as different walks of life and speaks to people’s hearts everywhere.

The production company is Big Picture Entertainment Group, with one of their principals being Stegall. Bigger Picture Promotion, their subsidiary, does the radio promotion. Brown said, essentially Big Picture will be our wing in Nashville. Atlantic doesn’t have a division in Nashville.

ROAR, a brand management and talent company based out of Beverly Hills, manages the Zac Brown Band.

According to Brown the split of the band from Live Nation Artists, the band’s label home for a year, was an amicable one that had been precipitated by Michael Cohl, former CEO leaving. Brown said, when he left they wanted I think to stick with their regular business model. Traditionally they have signed established superstar acts like Madonna. We were treated very well by them, added Brown. For a year they helped us. Now we are happy and free and encouraged with our signing with Atlantic.

Brown said about Atlantic, we need to get the deal that was right for us. Atlantic stepped up with that.

The Zac Brown Band will be holding a benefit show in late October for Georgia Theatre in Atlanta.

Among the artists that are scheduled to appear at the benefit on October 30 are Shawn Mullins, Joey + Rory and Little Big Town. Proceeds from the benefit will go for rebuilding the Georgia Theatre, which has been decommissioned. Before a fire that occurred earlier in the year occurred, the original movie palace that had been turned into a music club, had hosted musical performances from all the big local legends, including Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, B-52s and R.E.M.

Brown said, my band along with many others made our starts playing here. The building means a lot more to the community and us than the foundation of mortar and brick. We want to ensure it receives the proper funding. That way it can be rebuilt to be even better than before. With everyone’s help it will continue to be a center for music and art well into the future.

Wilmot Greene, owner of Georgia Theatre said, by hosting the benefit The Zac Brown Band is showing their love of Athens music scene and their incredible generosity. The Theatre here in Athens has enabled bands to find their early important audience to help bring them bigger successes later on. That’s a major part of the theatre’s tradition and an important reason why it does need to be rebuilt. The concert will really help with that.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and cost $100.

The Zac Brown Band will be continuing on their biggest headlining national tour yet. Another dozen shows have been added to back “The Foundation,” which was released last fall.

In early September, the trek began. It continues in Salisbury, MD on Thursday October 15. The latest check shows that 13 additional concerts were added to the itinerary. They include visits to Chicago on October 22, Columbus, OH on October 23 and Houston on November 21 among others. Currently the road trip is set to wrap up in Nashville on December 27.

Sonia Leigh, Nic Cowan, and Levi Lowrey, three musicians from Atlanta, will be joining Zac Brown Band on their tour. All three of the artists have signed with Southern Ground Records, the new record label belonging to frontman Zac Brown.

In most cities on the tour, a few lucky fans will have an opportunity for experiencing the signature recipes of Brown’s through his eat-and-greets. Everyone will get to witness the musical collaborations from all the artists performing together in each concert.

“The Foundation” is the major label studio album for Zac Brown Band. After it was released last November it hit No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country albums chart. The record also spawned three hit singles that made it into the Top 10: “Whatever It Is,” “Toes,” and “Chicken Fried.”

The band unveiled last month an exclusive “the Foundation” edition through Cracker Barrel at locations all over the US. There are three live tracks included on the special release: “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “I Shall Be Released,” and “I Lost It.”

Zac Brown Band, earlier in the year, won the Academy of Country Music Award as Top New Group, as well as the CMT Music Award as USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year, which was for their “Chicken Fried” video.