PRESS ROOM

 LEVEL 1 = PEACE OF MIND is American Zen's first album on Shaolin Records.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tujunga, California – July 10, 2007 – American Zen, America's first Buddhist rock band, is releasing their first album in 2005, Level 1 = Peace Of Mind. The album consists of 11 songs and 11 recited poems by The Coyote.

"Life is like surfing," explains Tom Calder, bassist for American Zen. "The only reason I end up back on shore is because that's where the waves drop me. I just play for fun. I never imagined a career as a bassist. Now I'm getting offers to cut bass tracks on other people's records." Tom chuckles. "I don't even know what a session bassplayer is--and now I'm becoming one?"

Tom is riding high on the American Zen wave. Despite this being their first album, their album is being hailed by musicians as well as fans.

Tom joined American Zen because it was "something fun to do." Now that it's becoming a career, Tom is having to take his bass playing more seriously. "Yeah. I guess I'd better go buy a new bass." For their first album, LEVEL 1 = Peace Of Mind, Tom plays his one and only bass, a 1959 Rickenbacker.

"When I bought this bass, it had the pickups ON TOP of the strings! Really! This was one of the first basses ever made by Rickenbacker. I took it to the Rickenbacker factory in Anaheim, California, after I bought it. They said that there was nobody even working there that was as old as my bass. They said that they thought it had been custom built for someone back in the late 50's. This bass is a 4000 model. Because it was one of their early prototypes, it has shorter stress rods in the neck than the new ones do now. They told me it could never handle the stress of roundwound strings. They told me to only put flatwound strings on it or the neck would rip off the body. I've always loved the Motown bass sound, so my Ricky with flatwounds became my trademark sound. It's really hard to tell it's actually a Rickenbacker bass."

This smooth fat bass sound seemed to be exactly what American Zen needed. To further fatten his sound, Tom plays through a 1969 Plush 4000G amplifier atop a Plush 2-15" cabinet. "I love that Plush sound," proclaims Tom. "A lot of other musicians make fun of me when I show up for a gig with my black diamond tuck-and-roll amp and cabinet. I've heard all the comments. My favorite was a gig in L.A. where some other band laughed at it and called it a 'couch.'"

Undaunted, Tom has managed to acquire two more Plush speaker cabinets. "When we play outdoor concerts at colleges, and I've got roadies, I like to stack the two 4-12" Plush cabinets on one side of the stage, and the 2-15" cabinet on the other side. Ahhh. I can't describe how good it feels to stand on stage and FEEL my bass. I can only hope it's as good for the audience as it is for me."

Tom developed his bass playing style by practicing and performing songs by artists of the sixties and seventies. He would collect his favorite songs from these artists and record them onto cassette tapes. Eventually, he ended up with five one-hour cassette tapes to practice bass to. They were titled, FIRST BASS I, FIRST BASS II..V. They included songs from Rory Gallagher, The Beatles, Mountain, Cream, Aerosmith, Jethro Tull, Mint Tattoo, Blue Cheer, Jimi Hendrix, Elton John...whoever had a great song with a great bass part in it. The only limitations to Tom's bass style were his number of favorite bass songs.

This wide variety of bass teachers helped Tom Calder to develop his eclectic bass style. "I don't do funk or slap bass!" proclaims Tom. His only bass instructor was a brief period of 1980 when one of his bass heroes, Tim Bogert, gave him private lessons in North Hollywood. "What an amazing guy! His bass playing will always be a few levels higher than I'm going." Tom, like Tim, was fronting THE RICH as a lead singer and bassist. Check out the live recording, LIVE IN VENICE BEACH.

Some of these bassists used guitar picks and some played with fingers. This also helped to widen Tom's bass playing styles. A few of these bass favorite songs made it into the live performances of The Rich: "Sister Justice," by Mountain; "Adam's Apple," by Aerosmith; "Starliner" and "Space Station #5" by Montrose; "Don't Look Back," and "Nantucket Sleighride," by Mountain; "Highway Star," by Deep Purple; "Crosseyed Mary," by Jethro Tull;

Tom prefers to play with his fingers. "Another advantage to playing flatwounds is that the strings don't chew up my fingers. It's more sensual. Perhaps that's what I'll call my style, 'sensual bass.'"

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Copyright 2005 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
        Steve Hixon - Drums
        Rory G - Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Ukulele, Synthesizer
        Tom Calder - Bass, Vox Organ

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