American Authors to play in Beaver Creek as part of Underground Sound Series

American Authors formed in 2006 at Berklee College of Music in Boston, but the musicians didn’t find their current sound until 2013, with the releases of the likes of “Believer” and “Best Day of My Life.”

“We’re such a different sounding group than when we first started,” said vocalist and guitarist Zac Barnett.

Originally influenced by emo rock, electronica and eventually sad, piano-type ballads from the likes of Coldplay, their producer called them out.

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“He said, ‘everything sounds so sad,'” Barnett said. “I wrote the ‘Believer’ melody just to spite him.'”

Turns out spite can turn into a beautiful thing. Sirius XM’s Alt Nation radio promptly threw the tune into its mix.

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The band’s next uplifting song, “Best Day of My Life,” was featured in a Lowes commercial ,as well as more than 600 movie trailers and television shows, ultimately becoming the theme song for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“It became the definitive moment of American Authors sounding like they do today. Once we discovered that it really was the turning point of what American Author is — everything that had gone on in our past, you could see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said, adding that since then, “We’ve always kept the same message of hope and positivity. The message of hope is really special to us. I have a tattoo on my arm that says ‘Hope won’t weigh you down,’ and I really believe in that. I feel like the message of hope is the truest message that can come through us as a band.”

Since then, they’ve released multi-platinum singles, played award shows and legendary festivals and venues worldwide and toured with bands such as Andy Grammar, OAR, OneRepublic, The Revivalists and The Fray. “Oh What a Life,” released in 2014, achieved gold status, and the follow up, “What We Live For,” garnered the top 20 hit “Go Big or Go Home.”

And yet, they believe that the best days of their lives are still to come. While they continue to explore musical genres, they remain rooted in uplifting alternative folk rock.

In 2023, they released “Best Night of My Life.”

“It’s the most American Authors-sounding album that we could make,” he said, talking about how it referenced past work but still has a similar vibe of today’s sound.

This past year, they’ve slowly released singles for their newest album, “Call Your Mother,” which just came out.

“We wanted to make an album we could play (on stage) with four-part vocal harmonies,” he said. “Fans said it sounds different, but at the end of the day, we’ve always had this organic, alternative folk sound.”

In this latest album, Zac Taylor, who had been a hired gun for the last decade with the band, joined in as a songwriter, and on tours.

Barnett says putting out each single individually takes some of the excitement away from releasing the whole album, but he’s found the process quite surprising.

“Songs that did the best on playlists were the ones I didn’t think were great, and songs we thought were a banger got no playlists, but they still streamed well, and they’re fan favorites. It just shows that no one has the answers,” he said.

In keeping with the uplifting spirit, the live shows, are, of course, energetic.

“It’s just such a good time for everyone. It’s really interactive. We try really hard to get the crowd involved to make it really personal,” he said. “They’ll hear all the American Author hits; you’ll be singing your heart out the entire set — I guarantee that.”