PRESS ROOM

  LEVEL 1 = PEACE OF MIND is American Zen's first album of their 8-level spiritual journey
produced by Richard Del Connor on Shaolin Records.

AmZen_eNEWS April 2005
Official newsletter of American Zen

Next LIVE PERFORMANCE by American Zen
will be Saturday, April 9,
at R.J.'s Rib Joint in Beverly Hills at 9pm.

See our shaolinCOM.com WEBPAGE regarding THIS GIG for more information.
http://www.shaolinCOM.com/Pages-S/events-S.html

We asked for your input: "What songs should Coyote perform?"

People's opinions were mostly, "play some old songs and some new songs..."

Coyote had worked up a show of this nature before the CD release party. He'd been performing it at various coffee shops and small clubs for the last year.

"I sat down the other day," says Coyote. "I knew I needed to make the CD for the soundman and start rehearsing my show. Just the day before, I found a cassette of mixdowns from the LEVEL 1 album WITHOUT VOCALS. Maybe I should've used that for the CD release party. So I jammed to it in my living room. It was cool, but I was hungry for something else. So I put on a cassette of rough mixes, from Utah, of the LEVEL 2 = CHRIST KILLER album. WOW! I had a great time jamming and looking for new parts."

"It was obvious, I NEED to play the LEVEL 2 = CHRIST KILLER album. We haven't even finished recording the album. So, I hunted down some .AIF copies of the CHRIST KILLER album and assembled the album for the first time on a CD. It sounded awesome and decided it was more important to perform a show that I'm passionate about, than perform songs just to advertise them."

Coyote's decision didn't go over well with everyone at Shaolin Records. We've only begun to market his LEVEL 1 = PEACE OF MIND album, and he's running out to perform the next album we haven't even started mixing yet.

This will be interesting. Once again, Coyote is jumping into the unknown, to do something he hasn't done before.

Coyote decided to NOT PERFORM the title song, "Christ Killer."

"That song is so cool," exclaims Coyote. "We've got two versions of the song and we still haven't decided whether we're going to build on the original 4-track master recording or start fresh. Plus, maybe it'll create a little more anticipation for the release of the album, LEVEL 2 = CHRIST KILLER."

We hope Coyote's correct. So, come to Coyote's next gig where he will perform flute, tambourine, and vocals to the second, unreleased album, by American Zen, LEVEL 2 = CHRIST KILLER.

(ed, despite our concerns...)

COME TO THE SHOW:

RJ's Rib Joint
252 N. Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, California 90210
(310) 274-7427

ONLINE INVITATION:
http://www.shaolinCOM.com/index.html

Don't forget to obtain a RED TICKET when you pay your $10 admission. This will entitle you to the FREE AUTOGRAPHED CD after the show.

(ed. The price of the CD = $14.88. You pay $10 and get a LIVE SHOW + CD = great deal!)
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TOM CALDER has been getting a lot of praise for his bass playing in the song, "IN THE DARKNESS." Tom's bass leads this song through a maze of tempo changes and machine gun strumming. Playing his 1959 Rickenbacker bass with flat wound strings, Tom shows off some amazing bass chops.

Tom may have gotten into music to score more girls, but he's scoring praise as a bassist. You can DOWNLOAD this song from the iTunes store.

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April 8 is celebrated as BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY.

The Original Buddha, Siddhartha Gautarma, lived in India.

In his pursuit for enlightenment, Siddhartha explored and considered all spiritual paths and religions available during his time, hundreds of years before Christ, in India.

American Zen is a Buddhist rock band based upon Mahayana Buddhism that was revised at the Shaolin Temple into Chan Buddhsim by Bodhidharma in 600AD.

The spiritual Guru of American Zen is Master Zhen (Zhen Shen-Lang), founder of the www.shaolinZEN.org Buddhist cybertemple.

(ed. Master Zhen is also a music artist of Shaolin Records where he records meditation music, Kung Fu drums and exercise videos.)

So, Shaolin Records is founded on Buddhist ideals, produces the albums by American Zen, a Folk Rock Buddhist Band, that is following the spiritual guidance of Master Zhen, an American Zen Buddhist Master.

That's a big hunk of Buddhism.

Happy Birthday Buddha!

Check out the SHAOLIN ZEN website:
http://www.shaolinZEN.org

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There are several websites of SHAOLIN COMMUNICATIONS
WITHIN shaolinCOM.com
featuring AMERICAN ZEN.

http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com is the website of SHAOLIN RECORDS
http://www.americanZEN.org is the website of THE BANDMEMBERS of American Zen
http://www.folkrockTROUBADOUR.com is the website of THE COYOTE

Here's a section of www.shaolinRECORDS.com
devoted to American Zen:
http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com

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PRODUCER'S NOTE: (Richard O'Connor, President & Producer of Shaolin Records)

The song, "Whose Heaven Is This?," was recorded in Utah on our Shaolin Records 4-track recorder.
Channel 1 Drums & Bass
Channel 2 Vox organ
Channel 3 Ukelele
Channel 4 Vocal

We're not sure how to describe Tom Calder's bass playing on this song. He was all over the place. He was almost funky with those octaves he pedals. Perhaps this is jazz. You can get away with anything in jazz.

I'd like to bring that ukelele out of the mix more. I think I should have listened to Coyote more. He kept pushing that ukelele fader up on me.

I've recorded mariachi records and a bunch of commercials -- but this was the first ukelele I ever recorded. It's a quiet instrument, compared to a guitar, so the string noise is louder...

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Here is your FREE SONG for APRIL:

"Whose Heaven Is This?" Features Rory G rocking on ukelele like you've never heard before.
http://www.shaolinCOM.com/Music-S...

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FEATURED
PLACE TO PURCHASE

CD: AMERICAN ZEN LEVEL 1 = PEACE OF MIND
Rule Radio
This is a cool internet radio station that has been playing the American Zen LEVEL 1 CD a lot.
The owner, Sam Funchess, is really nice and been supportive of our band.
You can purchase the CD directly from RULE RADIO at this LINK:
http://www.ruleradio.com/

MORE PLACES TO BUY OUR CDs:
iTunes
Click on your "MUSIC STORE" link in your iTunes window.
Search for "American Zen" and you'll find the entire album there.
You can order individual songs from the album.
Check out "IN THE DARKNESS" with Tom's bass solo!

shaolinCOM.com Shopping Cart:
http://www.shaolincom.com

Shaolin Records online:
http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com

TOWERrecords.com
Shaolin Records doesn't have distribution yet, so our records aren't in every record store -- yet.
However, you can order our record from their ONLINE TOWER RECORDS STORE:
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2983724
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HOT LINKS

The LEVEL 1 website begins here:
http://www.americanZEN.org
(click the "FORWARD" buttons to proceed from page to page of the story.)

American Zen has its' own website which will also be updated each year:
http://www.americanZEN.org

MUSIC SAMPLES of American Zen can be found on the American Zen website:
http://www.americanzen.org/LEVEL_1/album01A.html

To order American Zen's first album, "LEVEL 1 = Peace Of Mind" go to our shopping cart:
http://www.shaolincom.com

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Enjoy your journeys elsewhere and here.

Sincerely,
Richard Connor
Producer, Shaolin Records

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“AmZen_eNEWS”
is the official newsletter of American Zen, "America's First Buddhist Rock Band."

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
Steve Hixon		Drums
Rory G		Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Ukelele, Synthesizer
Tom Calder		Bass, Vox Organ
Richard O'Connor		Record Producer
Don DelaVega		Recording Engineer

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

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

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

American Zen’s MySpace page is: http://www.myspace.com/americanzen1

Shaolin Records MySpace page is: http://www.myspace.com/shaolinrecords1

If you wish to be REMOVED from the AMERICAN ZEN email list,
please follow the link below:
emailremoval@shaolin...

Publisher-Editor: Richard Connor
http://www.shaolinCOMMUNICATIONS.com/webmaster.html

Copyright 2005 Shaolin Communications.
All rights reserved. ASCAP

To view our privacy/anti-spam policy, please visit:
http://www.shaolincom.com/support-S.html
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