March 7, 2009 The Zen Tricksters are going on hiatus for a bit while they pursue some individual projects. They'll be spreading their musical wings this summer in two new bands, and we hope we'll see you at some of their shows. Heck, they'll even be at some of the same festies so you can catch them both! Jeff has joined Donna Jean in a new group, Donna Jean Godchaux Band with Jeff Mattson, that also features Donna's husband, David MacKay (from the Fiddleworms) on bass, former ZT Joe Chirco on drums, and former original Heart of Gold keyboardist Mark Adler on keys. Klyph has revived his Klyph Black's Rumor Has It blues band with Tommy on guitar and Dave on drums, and a bunch of other blues greats. Keep an eye on the ZT Schedule Page for show postings for these bands. And we'll also tell ya when the ZTs will be playing together again! March 7, 2004 Well, after a really good, fun year playing as an acoustic trio to support Shaking Off the Weirdness, we are back as an electric four-piece again. January and February found us touring the South, the Northeast, and the Midwest with ZT drum alums Dave Diamond and Rich Kulsar (both of whom would confirm to you that once a Trickster, always a Trickster!) helping us out while we began a lengthy and extensive drummer audition process. Another Zen alum, Phil Lesh & Friends keyboardist, Rob Barraco, sat in with us for a whole show at The Downtown in January. The magical, musical rapport we always shared with Rob came back instantly as soon as the first note was struck. In March we welcomed the newest member of the Zen Tricksters' family, drummer Joe Ciarvella. Joe was born a coal miner's grandson (really!) in Mahanoy City, PA. Joe made his live performance debut at the tender age of three as a novelty drummer in his family's traveling show, Seventh Heaven. Joe studied music at Penn State U. and he has recently played with the PA-based jam band, Dakini. His favorite drummers include Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Jon Fishman, and the Dead's Kreutzmann and Hart, but, as Joe said, “Some of my greatest drumming inspiration has come from such non-drummers as Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, and Charlie Parker.” Jeff Mattson said “We wanted to find a like-minded musician for whom it was a biological imperative to play live music, not just a life choice. Joe is not only incredibly talented, but comes from that same music-obsessed place as the rest of us!” November 8, 2003 So, what's been going on the last ten months? It's been a pretty busy year for us, touring mostly as an acoustic trio to support Shaking Off the Weirdness, which, fortunately, has been very well received. Some of the highlights over this year have included playing a bunch of shows with the Dark Star Orchestra. These guys do what they do very well, and are a great bunch of guys (and a gal) as well! We played with them in February in Colorado and later in Philly and had a ball! In May, we performed at B.B. King Blues Club for the 3rd Annual Bob Dylan Birthday show, which is always a great thrill and great fun for us to do our own arrangements of some of our favorite Dylan tunes. The pressure was really on Klyph as he sang not only Hurricane, but also Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts! That's a lot of verses of lyrics!! He was, of course, flawless. We also played up at the Full Moon Resort, site of our Zenfest 2003, a gorgeous alternative resort run by friendly and wonderful folks, and a great place to hear music. In July, we had the pleasure and privilege of playing our 8th Gathering of the Vibes and we are one of the only bands that have played this event each year of its existence. You may have heard the story if you weren't there, but right after the long jam in Eyes of the World, all the power for the entire festival went out as the generator died. Jeff, thinking fast, put down his electric, picked up his acoustic, and drew the crowd in for a sing-along Ripple until the power came back on. The stage manager was heard to say "You guys saved my ass!" and gave the Tricksters an extra 15 minutes to properly finish their set without having to cut it short when the power kicked back on. Near disaster was still at our heels as we played South Street Seaport in August, only two days after the big northeast power outage. Fortunately, there was plenty of power on Pier 17 that day and the show was a blast! Just last month, we had the great pleasure of playing what has become an annual birthday show with the legendary Vassar Clements. Also playing with us that night were the incomparable Buddy Cage from the New Riders, Mike Falzarano of Hot Tuna, and Jimmy Fleming of the Electrix. It was an incredible show and Vassar was just unbelieveable! We hope to do this show each year for many, many more. Finally, a few weeks ago we shared the bill with Melvin Seals and JGB. Melvin and the band were listening to our set in their dressing room and asked Jeff to play their entire set with them, which he gladly did. What a complete blast it was for Jeff to trade licks with one of his heroes, and the audience sure dug it. We are just now about to transition back into a mostly-electric 4-piece band in the new year, but will still do the occasional acoustic trio show as it was too much damn fun and too much good stuff came out of it to abandon. We'll also keep you posted very soon about NYE plans. January 8, 2003 We are just about to head south for a continuation of the acoustic tour. We're psyched to say it has been very successful so far. The fans sometimes walked into shows wondering exactly how much music they would get with an acoustic trio, but they invariably walked out wowed at the intensity, quality, and sheer size of the music! Shaking Off the Weirdness is out and available here on the merch page, and at Homegrown Music Net and soon at Amazon.com. The early response has been extremely positive. Please let us know what you think! You can hear a sample song from the album on our sounds page. We will keep rotating songs so you can hear them all. Easier still, buy the album and you can hear the whole thing! We recently returned from a great NYE show at the Fez Ballroom out in Portland, OR where Higher Ground, a great local bluegrass band, and the Flying Other Brothers opened for us. It was a joy playing with Barry Sless (David Nelson Band and virtual Trickster) and Pete Sears (Hot Tuna) at this show, and we had a great time at midnight when all the musicians played an out there jam into Will the Circle Be Unbroken. We want to thank all the musicians!! Just this past weekend we played two great shows at the legendary Bottom Line in NYC. Sharing the bill were Professor "Louie" & the Crowmatix, featuring Mike Falzarano (Hot Tuna) and the Kerry Kearney Band. Our old buddy and former ZT Rob Barraco (now with The Other Ones and Phil & Friends) joined us for both shows, as did Jason Crosby (Susan Tedeschi, Oteil & the Peacemakers, Project Z, former ZT), Christian Cassan (Rumor Has It), and Wendy Lanter (Hope In Time). There was lots of intermingling among the musicians and we had a blast! After the south, we will go cross country beginning with a show in Columbus, OH where we open for DSO. Happy New Year everyone! December 1, 2002 Now nine shows into the Acoustic Tour, ZT audiences are starting to realize just what a special treat this is. The shows have all featured a heavy dose of the great new songs from the soon-to-be-realeased Shaking Off the Weirdness CD as well as ZT songs you've already come to know and love. Does it end there? Of course not!! The shows also have featured Grateful Dead tunes from all ends of the spectrum, not just songs associated with being played acoustic, but classics and obscurities from all eras of GD history. And there's more! The band is constantly accessing its collective memory for gems from all walks of music, bringing you tunes that range from Warren Zevon's Accidentally Like a Martyr to traditional murder ballad The Banks fo the Ohio to John Hiatt's Tennessee Plates to The Band's W. S. Walcott Medicine Show. The biggest surprise, however, is just how full and complex the music is. November saw some fun collaborations with Professor "Louie" and the Crowmatix, featuring Mike Falzarano (Hot Tuna) sitting in for a few songs at Stephen Talkhouse. At Makor in NYC Reid Genauer and guitarist Adam Terrell (Assembly of Dust) joined the band for a sweet Friend of the Devil. The Tricksters are excited about their upcoming Portland, OR New Year's show with special guests sitting in Pete Sears (Hot Tuna)and Barry Sless (David Nelson Band). September 15, 2002 ZT drummer, Alan Lerner, and his wife Lynnette welcomed to the world their first born son, Lucca Miles Santin Lerner on September 15th at 12:30 PM. What a joyous occasion! We wish them all the happiness in the world and a long and fruitful life. While Alan takes an extended family leave of absence, Klyph, Tom, and Jeff are taking the opportunity to scratch an itch that they've had for a while. This trio has a special connection that happens when they perform acoustically. There have been shows here and there over the last few years, generally at Tribeca Blues in NYC, and the chemistry and level of fun was something very special. So we'd like to introduce you all to The Zen Tricksters Acoustic Tour. For more info, go to ZTAT. To further add to the excitement, the Trio is in the studio as we speak recording a brand new CD of original material. Stay Tuned!! September 13, 2002: Summer Highlights Another brutally hot summer come and gone, my oh my!! The ZTs kicked it off with a quick west coast tour that took us through all our familiar haunts in the northwest and CA. There was a great Summer Solstice Party at Wavy Gravy's Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, CA (home of Camp Winnarainbow) that reunited us with our good buddies, the David Nelson Band. Barry Sless joined us on pedal steel for the set and Jerry Garcia's old compadre Melvin Seals was kind enough to let us use his mighty Hammond B3 for our set. Pete was in heaven! The 4th of July found us playing for the 7th consecutive time at the famous Gathering of the Vibes. The ZTs played a powerful set that included a raucous Summertime Blues in tribute to the recently departed John Entwistle. Check out the set, sound and video, at DCN. At the Sunshine Daydream Festival in Terra Alta, WV we once again hooked up with the David Nelson Band. Along with Barry, we were fortunate enough to have Mookie Siegel sit in on keyboards. A highlight of that set was having the great David Nelson himself join the band for a 14 minute version of the psychedelic cowboy classic of the New Riders, Dirty Business. Just when we thought it couldn't get any hotter, we played our annual Jerry's Birthday Celebration at the South Street Seaport at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. A large and enthusiastic crowd endured record temperature to be part of what has become an important and joyous annual tradition. Part 2 of the celebration occurred a week later at B. B. King Blues Club in the heart of Times Square. What a classy joint! Mid-August found the band at the premiere of the long awaited Sunshine Daydream movie, a documentary of the Dead's legendary 8/27/72 Kesey Creamery Benefit show in Veneta, OR. Fans watched the movie upstairs at the Makor Theater and then joined the Zens downstairs and kept the party going. What do you do when it gets too hot in NYC? What else-you go on tour in the deep south! Yikes! A short but blazing run found the ZTs in some new venues, including Senate Park in Columbia, SC, Jake's Roadhouse outside Atlanta, GA, and Surfside Nightlife in Myrtle Beach, SC. Summer began to wind down at the 4th Annual Wormtown Music Festival in Russell, MA. This year the Tricksters headlined the Friday night show and were given an extended slot to work their magic. After more years than anyone could remember, original Volunteers (forerunner of The Zen Tricksters) member Bob Miller sat in to sing a few old Pigpen numbers at the Downtown. Jeff said it was eerie how easily Bob slipped back into it. So what did you do on your summer vacation? June 2, 2002 This was an action packed week for the Tricksters. It kicked off Monday, Memorial Day, at B. B. King Blues Club in NYC with the Bob Dylan Birthday Tribute. The ZTs reinterpreted 10 classic and obscure Dylan tunes with Buddy Cage helping out on pedal steel. Mike Falzarano of Hot Tuna joined the band to sing a rollicking Maggie's Farm. Other highlights were a slowed down, soulful version of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine and beautiful three-part harmonies on Lay Down Your Weary Tune. That alone would have been the highlight of any week, but we were just getting started! Thursday and Friday were the much anticipated Nights of Legends shows at Tribeca Blues. These shows were originally scheduled for the week after 9/11 and Tribeca Blues closed that day, for obvious reasons, and was unable to reopen for three months, so it felt especially good to finally have them come to pass. Who were the Legends? Well, for starters bluegrass legends fiddler Vassar Clements and singer & guitarist Peter Rowan (both from Old and In the Way), as well as banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka. Again, we were blessed with the presence of Buddy Cage (New Riders of the Purple Sage) on pedal steel, and Mike Falzarano on guitar and vocals. Our good friend Tom "Banjo" Hanway filled in on banjo when Tony wasn't playing. Jimmy Flemming (The Electrix) added mandolin on Thursday night. The big surprise guest was none other than Phish bassist, Mike Gordon, a new friend, who jammed with the band for a solid hour and a half on Thursday and helped out on Peter Rowan's Reggaebilly numbers on Friday. These were not traditional Zen Tricksters shows. The ZTs were there as the house band and learned many of Vassar's, Peter's, and Mike F.'s tunes for the occasion in order to show them in their best light. Although somewhere near the end of Thursday's three-hour+ set a very special extended Bird Song was played featuring Mike Gordon. This jam went waaaay out there! Other highlights of the shows were Old and In the Way classics Midnight Moonlight, The Hobo Song, White Dove, Kissimee Kid, as well as country swing versions of Boogie in the Barnyard, Kinfolk in Carolina, and Hillbilly Jazz. In 1973, Vassar Clements played on the Grateful Dead's Wake of the Flood studio version of Mississippi Half Step. Performed at both shows, 29 years later, it uncannily evoked the sound of that record. Vassar also spent some time in the early 70s as part of Dickey Betts' band and raging versions of Jessica attested to that! The end of each night concluded, appropriately, with the audience singing along on Will the Circle Be Unbroken. Two glorious nights of great music! See the Set Lists! April 9, 2002 Wow! Where do we begin? The Zen Tricksters' first trip to Japan was a resounding success. Invited to play four shows by Relix Japan, we flew into Nagoya on Tuesday, 4/2 and were greeted by an entourage of crew and other folks that would become good friends. We started with a traditional Japanese meal on Tuesday night and then tried to catch up with our jet lag. The next day we visited an ancient Buddhist shrine and saw the world-famous Japanese cherry blossoms in bloom at the Nagoya Castle. Then off to the Bottom Line (yes, the same folks as the Bottom Line in NY!), a beautiful venue in Nagoya. A little nervous at first, the ZTs were soon made to feel comfortable and got down to jammin'. We even had Satomi Asano of Japan's premier jamband, Big Frog, sit in to sing the female vocal on The Music Never Stopped. The next day we had a five-hour drive to Yokohama that was highlighted by a pit stop with a gorgeous view of Mount Fuji looking just like a Japanese painting. That night we played at Thumb's Up, a funky place where the folks really knew how to party! A very enthusiastic and vocal crowd demanded two encores and would have got more if time had allowed. Thursday, 4/4, brought us to the first of two shows at The Doors in Tokyo. Tokyo is BIG! With lots of people! It has to be seen to be believed. We played another solid show that featured a first set closing Warm Heart> Jam> Maggot Brain> Light of Life> Eyes of the World> Morning Dew that gave the Tokyo crowd a good indication of what we are about. I should point out here that in Japan, a pretty big part of the audience are tapers and in case anyone was wondering, Japanese Deadheads look and dress just like American Deadheads! We took advantage of not having to travel on Saturday to explore Tokyo. We visited an awesome Shinto shrine and did some touristy shopping. Then it was off to Yoyogi Park for what seemed to be the Japanese equivalent of a hippie gathering in Golden Gate Park. Thousands of friendly freaks were hanging out listening to a whole parade of Japanese bands at this annual festival. WE ARE EVERYWHERE!! We got to hear our friends Big Frog do a kick-ass set and then had to rush off to Doors for our last show of the tour. Inspired by the day's activities, this was easily the best show of the run featuring an epic Dark Star> Lay Your Love> Sing Me Back Home that was only topped by what followed. Another drum kit was quickly set up and drummer Ton Yasuda, and singer Satomi Asano of Big Frog joined the ZTs and proceeded to tear up In the Midnight Hour> Sugar Magnolia. Everyone returned for an encore--Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 and it was clear that the Japanese also acknowledge that Everybody, Yes Everybody, Must Get Stoned! What a week! The best part of it, though, was the awesome kindness and friendship that these wonderful people bestowed on us. We can't wait to go back! Doumo arigato, Japan! Live Photos from Relix Japan March 17, 2002 When you're on the road with one band and your housemate's on the road with two other bands, you'd be surprised at how little you see of each other. This explains why it's taken so long to have former ZT and current Phil & Friends/Gov't Mule keyboard player, Rob Barraco, to come back and sit in with the band. It was worth the wait! Rob found his way down to the Downtown in Farmingdale, NY (it was easy--he's been there more than a few times over the years!) to join in to jam on Playing in the Band> The Maker> St. Stephen> The Eleven. It was like putting on an old pair of shoes. Rob slipped in like he never left and a joyous time was had by all! March 4, 2002 The Tricksters completed another successful west coast run which took them through CO, MT, four shows in OR, WA, and four shows in CA. The band once again played one of their all-time favorite venues, the historic Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR. If you've never danced on a dance floor mounted on springs and ball bearings with hundreds of other Deadheads, make a point of it! In the land of wherethescenebegan, Marin County, the boys played a sweet acoustic show at Sweetwater in Mill Valley. They were joined by honorary ZT, Barry Sless (David Nelson Band) on pedal steel. At the Last Day Saloon show in San Fran, original ZT bassist Steve Ramirez sat in for a smokin' Bird Song> Highway 61. At the company's invitation, Jeff, Klyph and Tom made a day trip to the Alembic factory in Santa Rosa to try out their amazing state-of-the-art guitars and basses. Alembic was particularly interested in seeing what Jeff thought of their new Jerry Garcia "Tribute" model, an awesome facsimile of Jerry's Irwin guitars. He was completely blown away! Susan, Mary, and Mica, who own and operate Alembic, were generous with their time and kindness. The tour ended up with a fun early evening barbeque show at Legends in Las Vegas. February 3, 2002 The boys braved 78 degree southern January weather to perform a series of packed shows in the Carolinas, VA, GA, and TN. Highlights included a late-night but high energy extended set in Atlanta and a successful show at a new ZT venue, The Handlebar in Greenville, SC, where the band debuted a funky but fresh version of Little Feat's Skin It Back. On 1/29 Relix Magazine held a subscriber party at NYC's fabled home of downtown avante-garde, The Knitting Factory, with the Zens headlining. The show also featured Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise and ZT alumnus Jason Crosby Band (featuring Dave Diamond). A nearly three-hour marathon set left the crowd exhausted but happy and gave The Knitting Factory the best Tuesday night in its history! This past weekend, in addition to a triumphant return to Tammany Hall in Worcester, MA, the band was privileged to once again play the legendary Stone Pony in the heart of Springsteen country in Asbury Park, NJ. The Pony recently was granted a reprieve from the wrecker's ball as urban renewal attempted to silence this historic shoreline landmark. Thanks to all our Jersey fans who spoke up to save the club and made it a great night for all! January 13, 2002 Saturday, 1/12, found the ZTs at the freshly renovated Downtown on their home turf in Long Island. What a pleasant surprise! The club is now huge, classy, well run, and has a kick-ass sound system. A full house was delighted to see the band rise to the occasion that saw former ZT Dave Diamond sit in to play guitar and sing on Lay Your Love and I Know You Rider. The Rainbow Trout Horns added a touch of classic rock n roll to a highly-charged version of Reno. An emotional highlight of the evening was a heart felt Mission in the Rain. There'll certainly be more shows to come at the beautiful new Downtown! January 6, 2002 The ZTs kicked off 2002 in style with two big shows back home in the New York metro area. Friday, 1/4, was a three-set extravaganza at the Bowery Ballroom in a still healing lower Manhattan. The first set was acoustic and featured former ZT Jason Crosby on fiddle. The band broke out such nuggets as Rosalie McFall, Louis Collins, and Dylan's Watching the River Flow to enhance the down-home feel. Sets 2 and 3 were electric and saw the return of an original tune that reaches back to the band's days as the Volunteers - Jeff's Patience. Saint of Circumstance and St. Stephen also returned after a long absence. Wendy Lanter added a beautiful harmony to Attics of My Life. The crowd at Stanhope House on Saturday, 1/5, was treated to a high energy show that saw the jam after Travelin' Light morph into a gospel rave-up and then melt into the sweetest Imagine before heralding the return of Help On the Way/Slipknot!. Both shows were blessed by large, enthusiastic crowds that still managed to have a comfortable family vibe to them. It's gonna be a good year!
SPRING/SUMMER, 2001: We'd like to welcome to the Zen Trickster fold Alan Lerner, our new drums/percussion guy, and Pete Levin on keyboards. You will flip when you hear these guys. Spring is just a memory and Summer is here. That means festival season! We were thrilled to play this past weekend one of the best-the Gathering of the Vibes. If ever there was an event with which the weather did not cooperate, this was it. But you have to hand it to Ken Hays and the entire Terrapin crew. They did an incredible job of keeping everyone safe and putting on an amazing show. Over the three-day festival, there were numerous times when not only did the weather create a lot of discomfort, but some downright dangerous situations. Terrapin just rolled up their sleeves and got the town variances which allowed them to continue the music late into the night, thus giving the fans nearly all the music they were promised. They also kept everyone as comfortable as possible, and most importantly, safe. We are proud to say we have played this festival all six years of its existence. And we were very lucky this year, getting one of the time spots with decent weather conditions, and what a thrill it was to play for the Gathering crowd! A couple of weekends ago, we had the great pleasure of being up at the Puffin Festival in Maine where we played our set with the incredible Max Creek keyboardist, Mark Mercier. We also had a chance to jam later that night with a wonderful up-and-coming jamband, Psychedelic Breakfast. These guys are great! Several weeks ago we played on Lance Neal's Morning Dew radio show on WBAI in New York with Mike Falzarano (Hot Tuna) and Professor Louis (of the Crowmatix), and have also been lucky enough to play with Mike and the Dead Center AllStars on several occasions. We had a blast at Bob Dylan's 60th Birthday Bash at Wetlands a few weeks ago where we played a set of Dylan tunes, and earlier this Spring, Jeff and Klyph played some tunes with Jason Crosby and Friends, also at Wetlands, and Jeff got to trade licks with Stanley Jordan while Klyph and Oteil Burbridge gave it a go. We're now ready for full-tilt festival season and we're heading out West to play, among others, the Hempfest 2001 in Harrisburg, OR and the Crystal Ballroom in Portland. More on that soon! LATE WINTER,2000-2001: As winter draws its last breath, the big news is the return of Tommy Circosta. This is great news for the band and the Trickster fans alike. So if you've been a Zen fan for years, you'll be overjoyed at the news, and if you're new to Trickster shows and haven't heard this guy yet, ya better come out and see him! The Zens have returned from their cross-country month-long tour and are around town for a bit. See our Schedule for where and when. The tour had many high points including the February 8th show at Hannibal Brown's in Aspen, Colorado where Derek Trucks came down to hang out, and three songs into the Zen set, had his amp up on the stage and jammed with our boys for the rest of the show. They never took a break that night and played two hours and forty minutes without a stop! FALL, 2000: The band broke out some new songs during their September shows, including three new originals, She Had Dreams, Sacrifice, and Spirit Set Free, plus a really cool Maggot Brain and Love the One You're With. Also of note, at the VisuLite Theatre show in Charlotte, NC, Tom Constanten once again joined the band for outrageous versions of some classic Dead tunes. The Zens had the honor of playing with some pretty intense musicians later in the Fall. At their annual Halloween bash at the Bowery Ballroom, the band got to scare up some amazing tunes with the likes of Kenny Kosek, Tom "Banjo" Hanway, Trickster alums Jennifer Markard, Frank Pergolizzi, and Tom Circosta, as well as the Miso Honei Horns. At the Big Apple Bluegrass 2000 they again got the chance to play with Kenny Kosek and Peter Rowan, who had joined them at the Crystal Ballroom earlier in the year, as well as banjo virtuoso Bill Keith, Buddy Cage on pedal steel, and Todd Collins and Andy Leftwich on mandolin. SUMMER, 2000: Early in August, the Tricksters had a great time at New York radio station WBAI where, on a special edition of the radio program, Morning Dew, they played a set of live music (see ZT Set Lists). Their set was followed by the David Nelson Band's live set, and as so often happens when these two bands get together, there was quite a bit of co-mingling of personnel. Barry Sless (pedal steel) and Mookie Siegel (accordion) sat in with the Zens for the entire set which featured an elongated version of Goin' Down Slow, a song Barry previously recorded with the Zens on A LOVE SURREAL. The Tricksters then sat in with the Nelson Band, and this culminated in both full bands tearing it up on a rollicking Western swing version of Freight Train Boogie. Everyone had a ball and if you were anywhere at all that had Internet access, you were able to hear these two great sets of music streaming online. The very next day at the Gathering on the Mountain history repeated itself. The Zens played an afternoon set followed by the Dave Nelson Band and, predictably, the two bands shared much of their stage time. The Trickster set again featured Barry and Mookie for the entire set, as well as "Tom Banjo" Hanway, adding a psycho bluegrass flavor to a good bit of the set. Other highlights were an oh so psychedelic version of Bird Song with former Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten sitting in, and then current Allman Brothers slide guitarist Derek Trucks went lick for lick with Jeff on a raging version of Turn On Your Lovelight. Even the constant drizzle of rain could only sizzle and steam as it instantly evaporated from the extreme heat of the music! Everyone there had a fantastic time and the rain could not dampen the soaring spirits. Hats off to the promoters for running such a great festival once again! The August, 2000 Pacific Northwest tour was a huge success! The Zens began by opening for the David Grisman Quintet out in Eugene's Richardson County Park. What a beautiful site--right by the water--and great weather too. The band continued up the coast through Seattle to Vancouver and back to Portland, their home away from home, for a magical night at the Crystal Ballroom. The tour culminated with the Tricksters playing before 90,000 people at the Seattle Hempfest 2000. What an amazing scene! To order our CD "A Love Surreal" on line, visit Amazon.com or Homegrownmusic.netBACK TO
