BAND:   American Zen
ALBUM: Memorial Day Album

American Zen is 'America's First Buddhist Rock Band™'

American Zen was founded by The Hippy Coyote in 1992 after moving to Utah with his wife and 1-year old daughter. The first album details the hardships of Coyote in songs and poetry as he adapts to being a Mr. Mom so the wife can work for Xerox. The following albums detail the home life, love life, and spiritual life of Richard Del Connor as he evolves into the Kung Fu Cowboy as portrayed in the American Zen albums:

LEVEL 4 = Kung Fu Cowboy Part 1: King Solomon's Temple
LEVEL 4 = Kung Fu Cowboy Part 2: 3rd Degree Master Mason
LEVEL 4 = Kung Fu Cowboy Part 3: Stone Roses
LEVEL 4 = Kung Fu Cowboy Part 4: The Coyote Blues
End of the Line
Memorial Day Album

Memorial Day Album is the newest release of American Zen from Shaolin Records to be released July 4, 2017.

Check out the 2014 American Zen MEDIA KIT about the MEMORIAL DAY ALBUM album

One-Sheet EPK:  Memorial Day Album album

Album Title: Memorial Day Album
Artist: American Zen
Author: Richard Del Connor, The Hippy Coyote
Project Format:   320kb mp3 song downloads individually, or as album
Download Price:   $8.99 album, 0.99 song
Record Producer:  Richard Del Connor
Record Label:   Shaolin Records
Project Number:  AmZen-L4-P1-2014=Memorial Day Album
Product Number: SFR1402
Contents: 8 songs and 1 poem ("War Sucks!" is in instrumental version and vocal version = 10 tracks total on album)
Release Date: Memorial Day 5/25/2015
Pre-Release: 5/8/2015 (Rory O'Connor's birthday)
Pre-Release Single: "Friendly Fire" (Rory likes this song!)

  Check out the 2014 American Zen MEDIA KIT about the End of the Line album

HEADLINES:

Songs of War by American Zen
War Songs by the Happy Hippie
Entire Album Written in One Day
Entire Album Recorded in One Week

SUBHEADS:

Songs of War by American Zen
Recorded in Coyote's truck after Memorial Day 2014, (where he's been living since February 2013).

SONGLIST:

War Sucks! (Instrumental)
Friendly Fire
Camp Tehr Ohr
Every Breath I Breathe
Pictures Of Home
Memorial Day
Bags On Their Heads
Bombs From God
Father To Son Poem
War Sucks!

SHORT DESCRIPTION:

SUPERSHORT: ____ words
Coyote wrote all 8 songs on Memorial Day 2014. The "Father To Son Poem" was written when Coyote went to bed before that morning. He awoke with all 8 lyrics in his head. Each song tells its story from the perspective of the person in the song.

SHORT: _____ words
Coyote wrote all 8 songs on Memorial Day 2014. The "Father To Son Poem" was written when Coyote went to bed before that morning. He awoke with all 8 lyrics in his head. Each song tells its story from the perspective of the person in the song. Memorial Day Album is a hard rocking album of war songs to inspire, motivate, and horrify.

ALBUM NOTES:

Just after midnight, on the beginning of Memorial Day 2014, Coyote couldn't go to sleep unless he got this poem out of his head. It was a discussion between a father and son. The father was a military man, probably Army. Although a "lifer," he was trying to dissuade his son from joining the military. As the son displays his courage and ambition to his father, the father attempts to diminish war as a political solution.

When Coyote woke up, he now had another 8 stories in his brain. By lunch he'd written all 8 lyrics, and that evening, after spending the afternoon with his son, Coyote composed the music for all 8 songs.

"That was a record for me!" Coyote pants. "Maybe three songs in one day. But never more than that. Eight songs and a poem in one day is a major accomplishment for me!"

Over the next week, Coyote laid down the rhythm guitar, bass tracks and then a slide guitar track on every song. The percussion was added inside Coyote's truck and then all unmixed tracks were stored until the next year in 2015 to be mixed, mastered and released on Memorial Day 2015.

PRODUCER: Richard Del Connor
ENGINEER: Don DelaVega

RECORDING STUDIOS:
     Shaolin Records Studio:
          Tacoma Studios
               Zoom NH-4n
                    16bit 44.1KHz

TRACKING DATES:
     Album Composed: 5/26/2014
     Rough Guitar Track: 5/28/2014
     Rough Vocal Track: 5/29/2014
     Bass: 5/30/2014
     Slide Guitar: 6/8/2014
     Drum Sticks: 6/12/2014
     Marshall Guitar: Not done.
     Final Vocals: Not done.

MIXING DATES: Not scheduled yet.

CREDITS:
     The Hippy Coyote vocals, flute, electric guitar
     Rory G electric guitar
     Tom Calder bass
     Steve Hixon drum sticks

SONGS IN THIS PROJECT / ALBUM:

1. War Sucks! (Instrumental)
2. Friendly Fire
3. Camp Tehr Ohr
4. Every Breath I Breathe
5. Pictures Of Home
6. Memorial Day
7. Bags On Their Heads
8. Bombs From God
9. Father To Son (Poem)
10. War Sucks!

PROPER COPYRIGHT NOTICE:
COPYRIGHT 2014 Shaolin Music. All rIghts reserved.

ALBUM WEBSITE:
(Folder within LEVEL 4 website section of americanzen.org)

Homepage of Album Website:
http://www.americanZEN.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/index.html

Lyric 1 of Album Website (War Sucks!):
http://www.americanZEN.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/MemorialDay-01.html

Lyric 2 of Album Website (Friendly Fire):
http://www.americanzen.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/MemorialDay-02.html

Lyric 3 of Album Website (Camp Tehr Ohr):
http://www.americanzen.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/MemorialDay-03.html

Lyric 4 of Album Website (Every Breath I Breathe):
http://www.americanzen.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/MemorialDay-04.html

Lyric 5 of Album Website (Pictures Of Home):
http://www.americanzen.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/MemorialDay-05.html

Lyric 6 of Album Website (Memorial Day):
http://www.americanzen.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/MemorialDay-06.html

Lyric 7 of Album Website (Bags On Their Heads):
http://www.americanzen.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/MemorialDay-07.html

Lyric 8 of Album Website (Bombs From God):
http://www.americanzen.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/MemorialDay-08.html

Lyric 9 of Album Website (Father To Son (Poem)):
http://www.americanzen.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/MemorialDay-09.html

Lyric 10 of Album Website (War Sucks!):
http://www.americanzen.org/LEVEL_4/MemorialDayAlbum/MemorialDay-010.html

PRESS RELEASE MAY 2014

American Zen does it again: accomplishing more with just one man than any other rock and roll band: AN ALBUM WRITTEN IN ONE DAY!

It was after midnight, so technically Memorial Day. As Coyote lay in the back of his truck he wrote a poem, a discussion between a father and son. The son wants to be a soldier like his father--but father disagrees. As the son displays his courage and desire to be a man, his father attempts to disuade him into not joining the military.

When Coyote woke on Memorial Day his mind was full of war stories, from the past 50 years. In a few hours he'd written the lyrics to eight songs of war, as if written by the soldiers of his dreams.

Coyote, born Richard Del Connor, spent the afternoon with his son Rory. Then Coyote went back to his avocado green Toyota Tacoma truck with a purple shell. By 11pm on Memorial Day, Coyote had completed all 8 songs with music recorded on his iPhone while composing on his 1984 Fender Stratocaster guitar, (the entire Memorial Day Album).

The next day Coyote recorded the songs using his 4-track Zoom recorder. These basic tracks allowed him to cut the rough vocals and finalize the melodies of the songs.

Coyote drove 20 miles to his storage unit in Santa Clarita from North Hollywood and swapped his Strat for his 1957 Rickenbacker 4000 bass. Over the next week, Coyote wrote and arranged the bass parts as he recorded them into the 4-track Zoom recorder.
Coyote drove 20 miles back to his storage unit and swapped his bass for his 1965 Pleasant slide guitar. Now it was Rory G's turn to finish the tracks.

With the music finalized, Coyote cut the final vocals for this album.
Not having access to his Shaolin Records home studio (in storage), Coyote had to wait until...

Coyote then uploaded the album to Shaolin Records where advance copies are available for purchase.
PLEASE SEND A REVIEW OF THE ALBUM TO:
producer@shaolinrecords.com

Buy direct from Shaolin Records to receive
FREE BONUS ITEMS:
     novel by Richard Del Connor: Masonic Kung Fu

Link to PURCHASE ALBUM:
http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com/RecordStore-R/AmZen_MemorialDay-R.html

PayLoadz.com
Memorial Day Album album
http://www.shaolincom.com/Products-S/???????

PayLoadz.com Receipt text:
Thank you for purchasing an album from Shaolin Records. Our mission is to 'Enlighten and Entertain™.'

PayLoadz.com KEYWORDS:
WWII, anti-war, war stories, veterans

Available at:

amazon.com

americanZEN.org

CDbaby.com

iTunes

shaolinCOM.com

shaolinRECORDS.com
http://www.ShaolinRecords.com/RecordStore-R/AmZen_MemorialDay-R.html

RECORD RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT: January 2015

Memorial Day Album follows the 2014 release of End of the Line album by American Zen. Both of these albums were recorded in Coyote's "covered wagon," a 1996 Toyota Tacoma truck with a purple shell on the back.

Unlike the musical autobiography of End of the Line, this Memorial Day Album is 10 different people/spirits with 10 different tales to tell. The only song of this record that directly relates to Coyote is the "Memorial Day" song which mentions that he lives in his car.

Memorial Day Album began with the poem, "Father to Son," which is a conversation between a retiring army officer and his son. Although the soldier-father is trying to disuade his son from the joining the military, the end of the poem provides a bizarre twist.

Unlike the End of the Line album which had the Oberheim DX drum machine as the metronome and first track of each song, this Memorial Day Album had the percussion added last. Coyote beats drum sticks together, uses shakers and stomps his feet to create an "inside-of-a-kick-drum" sound. " I was listening to the songs with my headphones on and stomping my feet so loud I could hear it with the music. So I decided to record my car floorboard as the kick drum for all the songs on the record," Coyote explains.

Coyote performed all the instruments under the pseudonyms of his musical alter-egos: Steve Hixon on percussion, Tom Calder on bass, and Rory G on slide guitar. Coyote takes credit for the songwriting and rhythm guitar tracks recorded using his Pandora Stomp box. The singing isn't all Coyote, but mostly a whole bunch of other soldiers who "used Coyote" as a conduit to tell their stories. They never told Coyote their names and Coyote said the visions he saw were of different parts of the world and several different wars.

Memorial Day Album is the 9th album release of American Zen. Using hand percussion for this album reminds us of Coyote recording the LEVEL 2 = Christ Killer album by American Zen, also made primarily with hand percussion and has great slide guitar by Rory G on it!

"Although I am an anti-war person," states Coyote, "this album was created by allowing those soldier voices to tell their stories in their own ways. Each of those soldiers had a different perspective of war based on their personal ambitions."

The Memorial Day Album album, to be released July 4, 2017, will also be promoted and marketed as Coyote releases and promotes several other projects. Masonic Kung Fu - Entered Apprentice is the novel written by Richard Del Connor about teenagers in China rescuing a British Freemason secret agent. Rainbow in the Shade is a poetry book by The Hippy Coyote about all the friends and family he has seen murdered by war.

Coyote is a Tai Chi and Shaolin Kung Fu master teaching under the name, Buddha Zhen. As founder of several Kung Fu schools, including the Tai Chi Youth nonprofit education organization, Coyote has become famous as the "Kung Fu Cowboy." Already featured in Kung Fu Masters Magazine, Coyote will star in the movie written about him, Kung Fu Cowboy: Zombie Killer, currently in development as this album is released.

Kung Fu Cowboy is Richard Del Connor is The Hippy Coyote of American Zen, "America's first Buddhist rock band™." Does this album mean that American Zen is entering politics? "Heavens no!" states Coyote. "This album hopefully will discourage war in the future, but some songs on the album, like "Every Breath I Breathe," express a desire and belief in war as a good thing."

PAYLOADZ THANK YOU TEXT:
This song is from the MEMORIAL DAY ALBUM record by American Zen, produced by Richard Del Connor for Shaolin Records. Words and music by The Hippy Coyote.

Product URL:
http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com/RecordStore-R/AmZen_MemorialDay-R.html

PRODUCT NUMBER: SFR1402
PROJECT NUMBER: AmZen-L4-P1-2014=MemDay

Memorial Day Album ALBUM EPK
Links to Memorial Day Album EPK webpages.

Memorial Day Album GRAPHICS EPK
Links to Memorial Day Album lyric webpages.

Memorial Day Album ONE-SHEET EPK
Links to Memorial Day Album lyric webpages.

Memorial Day Album SONG LIST EPK
Links to Memorial Day Album lyric webpages.

OTHER EPKS of American Zen

End of the Line ALBUM EPK
Links to END OF THE LINE EPK webpages.

End of the Line SONGLIST
Links to END OF THE LINE lyric webpages.

American Zen BOOKS
Links to EPK webpages of books by Richard Del Connor, The Hippy Coyote, Buddha Zhen, or Rachel Connor.

American Zen MOVIES
Links to EPK webpages of movies: Kung Fu Cowboy Rock & Roll Movie 1, and Kung Fu Cowboy Documentary.

American Zen MUSIC VIDEOS
Links to music videos featuring American Zen.

American Zen NEWSLETTERS - End of the Line ALBUM
Links to AmZen_eNEWS newsletters of 2012, 2013, and 2014.

American Zen PRESS RELEASES - End of the Line ALBUM
Links to PR_AmZen press releases from Shaolin Records of 2012, 2013, and 2014.

American Zen WEBSITES - End of the Line ALBUM
Links to websites and webpages of American Zen.

Shaolin Communications ENTERPRISES
Links to the various subsidiaries and enterprises that include Shaolin Records, Shaolin Music, and Shaolin Chi Mantis.

Shaolin Records PRESS RELEASES
Links to Shaolin Records press releases related to End of the Line album by American Zen.

LETTER TO FEATURE EDITORS January 2017:

This Memorial Day of 2017, September xx, will be the release of American Zen's new album, Memorial Day Album. 9 songs and a long poem which Coyote says were "channeled through him" on Memorial Day 2014.

This entire album was written in one day, on Memorial Day of 2014, and recorded entirely over the next few days in Coyote's Tacoma truck. Coyote explains, "When I sang the songs I was seeing the images of the sources of these stories. I sang in their voices with their intentions and perspectives. It was an amazing experience that has yielded an amazing album."

There are many angles to feature regarding this album of war songs to be released on Memorial Day 2015.

Pro-war concepts
Anti-war concepts
No-war concepts
Homeless life
Hope for soldiers
Soldiers away from family

Let's work together to make some interesting and informative feature stories this year that include or involve the American Zen record, Memorial Day Album.

Upcoming press releases will be regarding the MEMORIAL DAY ALBUM album by American Zen.

Richard Del Connor
Producer, Shaolin Records

 

 

 

About Shaolin Records
Shaolin Records was launched in 1984, releasing vinyl records and cassette tapes of Kung Fu music from Santa Monica, California. With its' origins in Shaolin Kung Fu and Zen Buddhism, Shaolin Records strives to 'enlighten and entertain™.'

Media Contact:
Richard Del Connor
Producer, Shaolin Records

www.shaolinRECORDS.com

About American Zen
American Zen is led by The Hippy Coyote who fronts the band on flute and acoustic guitar. Coyote is a renaissance man who writes all the music, lyrics, and poetry. The Christ Killer album cover is a self-portrait by Coyote near the tomb of Rudolph Valentino.

Media Contact:
The Hippy Coyote
The Happy Hippie of American Zen

www.americanZEN.org