Zac Brown to Share His ‘Very Personal Story’ at Sphere Residency (Exclusive)

When Zac Brown goes big, he goes really, really big. 

Zac Brown Band will bring an appropriately epic scale to their recently announced residency at Sphere in Las Vegas later this year, but embedded in all the spectacle also is a more intimate look at his own personal journey, the band’s frontman tells PEOPLE.

“I’m telling my very personal story that I’ve never really told, of what drove me into music and how music’s been there to save my life over and over again,” Brown said of the Sphere shows, set to take place on Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13 and Jan. 9 and 10. At the same time, the band’s latest album, Love and Fear, drops the night of the first show and features collaborations with music icons Snoop Dogg and Dolly Parton.

Only the second country act to appear at Sphere, Brown said the residency is “something that people are not going to expect, and I love throwing people a good curve ball.” The production promises to explore previously unshared aspects of Brown’s life, a “glimpse inside his head” focused on themes of pain, redemption of self, patience for light in darkness and the constant evolution of life.

“It’s going to be a wild ride coming to this show,” he said. “I’ve never been able to have the budget or the time to really create something that’s this big before.”

Brown has already spent 14 months crafting the production while simultaneously putting together an album full of songs intentionally designed for Sphere’s massive showcase, “knowing that I’m writing songs that are going to be able to be presented in this giant dramatic operatic kind of a way.”

He’s meditated this moment for an even longer period. “The last three or four years I’ve been trying to think of how we can create a spectacle that really elevates the experience that we can give to our fans,” he said. “And I think back to when Pink Floyd came out with The Wall and the size and scale of their production that they came out with. What is that thing for us? What is our Wall?”

“Then I found out about the building at the Sphere and I went to visit when it was under construction,” Brown said, noting he was blown away by the venue’s staggering four acres of 16K video screen and cutting-edge audio. “Seeing and hearing everything that they had, I was like, ‘This is the place to do it. And this is one of those years to really bet on ourselves.’”

“This is a defining moment in our career,” Brown explained. “The goal of the Sphere is to step into that Legacy Act era, to be amongst the Jimmy Buffetts, the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead. This is us proving that we’re worthy of being there and then that we’re not slowing down, that we’re matching on the gas and trying to figure out how we elevate every single avenue of what we’re doing.”

“Once I knew that we were doing the Sphere, then it’s like, ‘Okay, what’s going to make these things so dynamic?’” he added. “Where the visuals are really going to support and as opposed to just writing for something that’s moving me or something that I’m moved to do in the moment.”

But Brown never wanted the deeper emotions of his music and the underlying story of his own personal triumphs and tragedies get lost in the spectacle. Even though many beachy, boozy songs in his catalogue offer a lighthearted spirit of escapism, just as many zero in on life’s struggles while offering shimmers of light at the end of dark tunnels.

“We all go through difficult things as being human and no one escapes it,” said Brown, noting there will be a focus on “some of the things that I’ve learned along the way that helped me to look at some of the really hard things that happen, and how there’s redemption in the hardest things. You either are a victim of circumstances that happened to you or you’re the victor, and I think it’s all about how we choose.”

“I’m just an ordinary person, but you can do extraordinary things with an extraordinary effort, and all of the hardest things that you’ve ever been through end up serving you in some way,” he said. “And sharing my story is really just about sharing more of that humanity and how we’re all connected.”

“I love the title Love and Fear because you can base all your decisions based on one of those two things,” he explained. “You either move forward with love and get back up on the horse and keep going and persevere or you become a victim of something and kind of stuck in the mud.”

Brown adds, “And the cool thing about that title, it allows us to have this juxtaposition from going from a full jump-scare, horror movie moment to these soaring incredible visuals, landscapes and everything in between.”

The singer is looking forward to pairing epic interpretations of the band’s biggest hits alongside the newer, Sphere-minded songs. “’Colder Weather’ in the Sphere is going to be insane,” he enthused. “And I’ve been looking for what is our follow-up song to “Colder Weather,” and it is “The Sum” – that one’s going to be really powerful.” The latter song will feature a pre-filmed 40-piece orchestra and 20-piece choir that will play alongside the band’s live performance.

Brown said he can’t wait to get his vision for the residency in front of the band’s fans. “We still have a few months left to go before we actually get in rehearsals, and seeing the way it’s come together, the team that I’ve pulled together to do this and to help me to accomplish this vision and everything — man, it’s going so well and it’s really, really exciting.”

Tickets for the Zac Brown Band’s residency at Sphere are on sale Friday, July 25.