Photos by Southern Reel

A number of musicians sat in with country jammers Zac Brown Band during special sets at this weekend’s Southern Ground Music and Food Festival. Gregg Allman, John Mayer, Darius Rucker, The Avett Brothers and more joined the band during the shows, which were billed as “Zac Brown Band with Special Guests”. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Wailers and more also played at the festival.

The Avett Brothers were the first to make an appearance with Zac Brown Band during their Saturday set, as the folk rockers joined the band on stage for a cover of Ryan Adams’ “Oh My Sweet Carolina.” John Mayer came out soon after for a rendition of his own “Neon.” Darius Rucker joined the Zac Brown Band for “Wagon Wheel” before leaving the stage so the band could play acoustic covers of Nirvana’s “All Apologies” and Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion.” Saxophonist David Englehard then came out for “Free/Into the Mystic.” Gregg Allman and John Mayer later made a joint appearance with Zac Brown Band for “Midnight Rider” and Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues.” Mayer also sat in on “Queen of California” during the encore.

Sunday’s Zac Brown Band with Special Guests set was just as guest-packed as the one before it. Gregg Allman and John Mayer joined the band together once again, this time for “One Way Out” and a cover of Allman’s “Melissa.” David Englehard then made an appearance on “Who Knows.” John Mayer took up percussion duties on “Toes,” and stuck around for a cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released,” with Sarah Dugas joining the band for the latter. Donald Dunleavy sat in for “I Play the Road” before Zac Brown Band went into covers of Widespread Panic’s “Ain’t Life Grand” and Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” The band ended with a five song encore that included “America The Beautiful,” as well as a version of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” with John Mayer.

Over 23,000 people came out to Charleston, SC’s Blackbaud Stadium for the Southern Ground Music Festival. It was the second edition of the festival this year. The previous one was held in Nashville, TN in September. You can see a few photos of this weekend’s festival below.

Photos courtesy of Zac Brown Band