PRESS ROOM

PR_AmZen March 2008
Press Release of American Zen
LEVEL 3 = I Want You To Love Me is American Zen's third album on Shaolin Records
     and their 3rd Level of Shaolin Zen Buddhism.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tujunga, California – March 3, 2008 – American Zen, America's first Buddhist rock band, released in June 2007, their follow-up album to Level 1 = Peace Of Mind. Both albums were released by Shaolin Records and produced by Richard Connor.

Artist: American Zen featuring The Hippy Coyote
Product: cd record album, mp3 song or album downloads, and the same from iTunes AAC mp4 format
Title: LEVEL 3 = I WANT YOU TO LOVE ME
Event: 3rd Level of Buddhist Enlightenment

American Zen has had a few different bass players over the years. Tom Calder is from Coyote’s novel, SID’S PLACE, about a drug runner who goes underground in 1969.

In San Diego, before moving to Los Angeles in 1978, Kevin Dennis held down the bass before Coyote became a flute player. Ironically, Kevin got a flute during those days and despite jamming some Jethro Tull songs, Coyote had no sense of his future fame as a flutist.

Coyote's bands went through various evolutions including LOTUS, who lived out of a storage locker in El Cajon, California. "It was a big storage room," explains Coyote. "It was the corner unit so it was like three units put together." Although Coyote already posessed the 1969 Ford Econoline Van he would later live out of, it was just a completely bare inside van, with two seats. In 1969, cars did not always come with seat belts, so Coyote had to mount them himself, a few years later.

While at Bonita Studio in mid seventies, Gus Bedouin cut some excellent bass on his Fender Jazz...

There was a keyboard player who recorded on a couple of my songs back then. I think he took over my engineering jobs when I left in 1978. Keith? Kevin?

Then known as THE RICH, a power pop 3-piece band performing songs by Coyote but an equal number of songs by other artists including Aerosmith’s: “Adam’s Apple,” “Toys In The Attic;” The Beatles’ “Back In The USSR;” Mountain’s: “Don’t Look Back,” Theme For An Imaginary Western,” “Sister Justice,” “Nantucket Sleighride;” Montrose: “Underground,” “Starliner,” and “Space Station #5.” These are the songs that shaped Coyote’s bass playing style.

However, as Coyote wrote his 3rd rock opera, THE PAUPER, he needed a bass player for the band so he could perform flute and acoustic guitar. Thor Spangler joined The Rich as the new bassist, but Coyote just couldn’t leave his Plush bass stack and Rickenbacker 4000 bass--at home. After Coyote showed Thor how to play the instrumental song, “Starliner,” by Montrose, he came up with a harmony bass line that sounded like a guitar made out of an entire tree. This may have been the first BASS HARMONY SONG written or at least performed by Coyote. Audiences liked this double bass guitar song so much that Coyote wrote a song similar to it which they stuck right onto the ending of “Starliner” creating even more of a spectacle of this awesome performance sound of two loud bass guitars plus a heavy metal guitarist and a jazz style drummer hitting the drums as hard as could.

Thor didn’t move to Los Angeles in September of 1978 when The Rich rented their barrio house on Broadway in Venice, just a few houses away from the V13 headquarters. So Coyote went back on bass until the early eighties when Jason Scheff played bass so Coyote could front the band as lead singer. Jason Scheff left the band, then billed as, RICHARD CONNOR, to join the classic rock band, Chicago Transit Authority (Chicago).

Coyote’s next bass replacement would be his roadie, Sam Persons, but he didn’t move to Utah...

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Monthly Press Release from Shaolin Records
Editor: Richard Connor

Copyright 2008 Shaolin Communications.
All rights reserved.

The PR_AmZen is the official PRESS RELEASE of American Zen, "America's First Buddhist Rock Band."
This is intended for magazine, news, radio, and distributors.

The AmZen_eNEWS is published monthly and sent to fans, friends,
and anyone wanting more information on the FOLK ROCK band, American Zen:
     Featuring:
        The Coyote - Flute, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Songwriting, Drums, Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Ukulele, Bass, Keys

American Zen is an exclusive artist of Shaolin Records.

iTunes AMERICAN ZEN albums
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=7403290

Album website for American Zen’s 3rd album: LEVEL 3 = I Want You To Love Me
LEVEL 3 = I Want You To Love Me

iTunes AMERICAN ZEN Level 2 = Christ Killer
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=259253544&s=143441

Album website for American Zen’s 2nd album: LEVEL 2 = CHRIST KILLER
LEVEL2christKILLER

American Zen is an exclusive artist of Shaolin Records: http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com

American Zen homepage: http://www.americanZEN.org

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