2026 Group \/ Duo of the Year CountryTown Award nominees Zac Cross Band are back with a vengeance on their blistering new single \u2018Give Me a Break\u2019. Following on from the success of their previous release \u2018Promise\u2019 which cracked the Top 10 on the AMRAP Airplay Charts and landed editorial playlist support across Apple Music\u2019s New In Country, Aussie Country and Country Risers, the Queensland outfit continue to carve out their lane with a track that\u2019s equal parts cathartic and chaotic.
A gritty, tongue-in-cheek anthem wrapped in crashing guitars and modern country swagger, \u2018Give Me a Break\u2019 captures the feeling of life kicking you while you\u2019re already down – only instead of spiralling, Zac Cross Band throw their hands in the air and laugh through the madness. It\u2019s angsty, empowered country rock with dirt under its nails and a grin on its face.
\u201c\u2018Give Me A Break\u2019 was never intended to be a serious song,\u201d shares frontman Zac Cross. \u201cIt was written to kind of be sarcastic and make light of when things are just going wrong for you and you\u2019re looking up at the sky like \u2018c\u2019mon!\u2019. We all go through those periods when nothing seems to be going your way. Even the little things like someone snagging the last parking spot or you getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, and it\u2019s raining, and your spare tire is flat too, and there\u2019s no phone service or your jack is buggered and then your car battery dies! But, you\u2019re not mad, you just have to laugh. It\u2019s a \u2018if you don\u2019t laugh, you\u2019ll cry\u2019 kind of song. We\u2019ve all been there.\u201d
Recorded on the Gold Coast with acclaimed producer Jared Adlam ( Lee Kernaghan, James Johnston) at Machine Lab Recording, the single continues the long-running creative partnership that has helped shape the band\u2019s signature collision of country storytelling and rock intensity.
\u201cRecording this song was probably the most excited we\u2019ve been at the studio for a long time,\u201d Zac explains. \u201cI think now that the album has been out for a while and that collection of works is done, we don\u2019t have to make whatever song we\u2019re working on fit into a certain spot within the project or sound a certain way. This time it just felt like there were no expectations and we could just do whatever we like.\u201c
The release arrives as Zac Cross Band continue an unstoppable rise through Australia\u2019s country scene. Since launching onto the circuit, the four-piece have become festival favourites at events including Gympie Music Muster, Tamworth Country Music Festival, Baralaba Bash and Country Fest Queensland. They\u2019ve shared stages with massive acts including The Wolfe Brothers, Jon Stevens and Dragon and kept the party going at the official Midland afterparty, following the US giant\u2019s international tour.
This year the band garnered recognition as nominees for Group\/Duo of the Year at the 2026 CountryTown Awards off the back of their debut album The Music Lives On. The band are now gearing up for a massive touring run across Queensland.
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a little time off from touring as my wife and I have just got back from a big trip through the States but now we\u2019re back and ready to rumble,\u201d Zac says. \u201cWe\u2019re kicking off \u2018ZCB Live ROUND 2\u2019 at the end of May and are looking forward to packing out the rest of the year with as many shows as we can. We live for playing live shows and can\u2019t wait to party with everyone.\u201d
Away from the stage, the band continue balancing full-time work with the relentless demands of life on the road, all while remaining heavily involved with the Our Rainbow House Foundation – a charity close to their hearts that supports orphaned children in Zambia. Alongside ambassador Kasey Chambers, Zac Cross Band have proudly performed at the organisation\u2019s annual fundraiser for the past four years.
At its core, \u2018Give Me a Break\u2019 is exactly what Zac Cross Band do best – turning life\u2019s messiest moments into something loud enough to scream along to with your mates. Equal parts pressure valve and pub-floor anthem, it\u2019s a reminder that sometimes the only thing left to do is laugh, crack another beer and keep rolling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2026 Group \/ Duo of the Year CountryTown Award nominees Zac Cross Band are back with a vengeance on their blistering new single \u2018Give Me a Break\u2019. Following on from the success of their previous release \u2018Promise\u2019 which cracked the Top 10 on the AMRAP Airplay Charts and landed editorial playlist support across Apple Music\u2019s New … Continue reading “Zac Cross Band – Give Me a Break”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2929,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2928\/revisions\/2929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}