Georgia’s Zac Brown Band is a home-grown outfit whose “Chicken Fried” single recently hit No. 1 without much help from Nashville, save the presence of Alan Jackson producer Keith Stegall behind the board.

So it’s a little disappointing that the first half of The Foundation is loaded down with current mainstream country clichés like the relaxing-on-the-beach song (“Toes”) and the list-of-awesome-stuff song (“Chicken Fried”).

But the group goes deeper in the homestretch, flashing an eccentric sense of humor (“Sic ’Em on a Chicken”), good taste in covers (Ray LaMontagne’s “Jolene”) and all the players’ dazzling instrumental chops (“It’s Not OK”).