I'm absolutely fascinated by the Zac Brown Band's newest CD cover for 'Uncaged' and believe that the cover artwork may come to be as well known as the music it represents. I know it's definitely a piece that has people talking. I've already had one post about the cover, but knowing who the artist is and the name of the picture didn't really answer my question of just how this particular artwork came to be the CD cover art.
Now we have the answer to that question. The artist of the painting, which is called Our Lady of Merciful Fate, Brandon Maldonado, recently spoke with the ABQ Journal and told them the story of how Zac Brown found him.
“The boys were doing some local sightseeing in Old Town, and they just happened to go into Johnny Salas’ shop ‘Santisima’,” he said. “I wasn’t there but my work was and Zac picked up a few pieces and contacted me shortly after and made it clear that he wanted me to do work for their next album cover. It’s kind of funny that it was about a week before he even released his second album.”
This is actually the third cover Maldonado has done for the group. The artwork for the ZBB's single The Wind is a Maldonado painting called Viva y Vida. The artist also tells the ABQ Journal that he "drew a New Year’s Eve concert poster for the band that later became the cover art for 'The Southern Ground Artist Compilation No. 2'.”
Maldonado says he's a big fan of CD artwork.
“I’ve always said that music is the superior art because it can really move people in a way that visual art just can’t,” he said. “People might argue with me on that one, but when you think of the Fab 4 running down the street being mobbed by fans its hard to think of a painter who has ever moved people in such a way. So I feel very privileged to participate in the world of music which has given me so much over the years.”
“You can find some of the coolest art in the record store,” he said. “I think this particular record is great not simply because my art graces the cover but because every track is well crafted and speaks of the band’s tight musicianship. And with the diversity of musical genres found on the record it shows that the band has truly “uncaged” themselves from any pigeonhole people might want to put them in.”
I absolutely agree with the artist and applaud the Zac Brown Band for a CD cover that has people talking. Some people hate it and some people love it, but people are talking and that's what all good album cover art should do.
Here are the other two covers Maldonado has done for the group.
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