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shaolinRECORDS.com
"Where Buddha rocks!"
AmZen_eNEWS January
Shaolin Records is proud to announce the release of AMERICAN ZEN's first album, "LEVEL 1 = Peace Of Mind."
This CD includes 11 songs written by The Coyote, plus 11 poems recited by Coyote.
"LEVEL 1" is the first of 8 levels. These 8 levels correspond to the 8 stages of spiritual development.
American Zen is a group of 4 young Buddhists seeking enlightenment (and a lot of fun). Each new album will portray their emotional, mental, and spiritual development.
Each album/level will also include an entire website of stories, poems, and Buddhist wisdoms.
The LEVEL 1 website begins here:
http://www.shaolinCOM.com/SITE-A/LEVEL_1/Pgs-LEVEL_1/enterL1A.html
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.shaolinCOM.com/SITE-A/LEVEL_1/Pgs-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
Special MEMO
from Tom Calder (bassist of American Zen)
to FANS of AMERICAN ZENre: Whooping it up
If you're coming to our release party, you've already been invited. Right?
If you haven't been invited, or responded, or just believe you should be there...you'd better let us know immediately.
Even though we love crashing parties, you may not be able to get into our CD Release party without an invite. And we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings...so this is your last chance to get an invite.
Contact our party commander (listed below) and bring your smile...and appetite. They'd better have some good munchies...cuz you know me...heehee...I always have the munchies.
See ya there,
Tom
R.S.V.P:
Thanks for your interest and support.
Sincerely,
Richard O'Connor
President - Producer
Shaolin Records
shaolinRECORDS.com
"Where Buddha rocks!"
AmZen_eNEWS FEBRUARY
The CD Release party was friday night in Beverly Hills. It rained earlier that day so the air was clean and the streets were still that wet black look they prefer in Hollywood movies Did you know that most movies and commercials hire a water truck to drive up and down the street, spraying it with water to make it look blacker?
This was the first time Coyote ever jammed to their new album release, LEVEL 1 = Peace Of Mind. He played flute and sang to the title song, “Peace Of Mind #2.” Then he belted out some great vocals to “Black Of Night.” Many people have said that “Black Of Night” would be a great single for radioplay.
Then Coyote played tambourine and maracas while singing along to a bunch more tracks including a wild tambourine performance to “In The Darkness” which starts off as slow as a funeral procession then speeds up to faster than rabbits drinking coffee.
I think one of the highlights of the show was when my son, Rory O’Connor, age 6, joined Coyote on stage and performed tambourine on “All Screwed Up” and then got a maraca lesson from Coyote during “A Long Way Home.” I wish I could have videotaped it. Coyote was playing one maraca, little Rory played another, and they were changing hands in unison...
“I’ve been performing a lot of solo shows the past year on flute and acoustic guitar,” explains Coyote. “It was a last minute decision just a couple weeks before the gig, to jam to the CD. I’d rather be performing songs off the LEVEL 2 album we’ve started recording -- but it made sense, since this was the ALBUM release party, to perform the album. Now, everyone’s encouraging me to keep performing this show, jamming to the the LEVEL 1 album.”
Thanks VERY MUCH to all those who did attend our CD release party. We had a great time. I had a great time.
Sincerely,
Richard O’Connor
Producer, Shaolin Records
p.s. For those who attended the album release party, Coyote autographed and gave each person a copy of the LEVEL 1 = Peace Of Mind CD. If you weren’t there, here a couple of links so you can easily purchase a copy online:
CDbaby.com
http://www.cdbaby.com/americanzen
TowerRecords.com
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2983724
iTunes
You can also order individual songs on iTUNES
by searching for AMERICAN ZEN.
shaolinRECORDS.com
"Where Buddha rocks!"
AmZen_eNEWS MARCH
Next LIVE PERFORMANCE by American Zen will be April 9, at R.J.'s Rib Joint in Beverly Hills.
Our last show there went really smoothly with great sound.
The mixture of Coyote's LIVE flute/vocals/tambourine/maracas
performed with the American Zen LEVEL 1 CD was awesome.
We won over a bunch of new fans at the last gig who came there to see other bands perform.
We recommend the BEEF RIBS. "They were really good ribs. Just make sure to order before 10pm. At the last gig some of our fans came right at the end of my show and the kitchen was still open. If you order your ribs at 9:30pm, in the middle of my show--they'll still be warm when I come around to your table with the signed CDs."
(ed. I think Coyote's trying to mooch a rib off you.)
Coyote's decision to perform to the American Zen LEVEL 1 CD for the last gig was because it was the release party for the album. The band has started recording their second album.
"We've got some rough mixes I can jam to," pipes Coyote.
Just for fun, we'd appreciate your ideas for our NEXT GIG at R.J.'s Rib Joint.
1. Coyote performs to the LEVEL 1 CD again
OR
2. Coyote performs some of the new songs the band is working on.
"I was surprised how much fun it was performing to the CD at that last gig," says Coyote. "It was also an interesting challenge to duplicate my flute solos and vocals. I've got some cool performances on that album and my flute solo on "A Long Way Home" -- I didn't even bother to duplicate on stage. I'm really proud of that." (ed. The song, "A Long Way Home," was recorded in stereo with the drums and Rory G's wah-wah guitar blasting loud enough to blend with Steve Hixon's hard hitting drum style. Then Coyote laid down his flute/vocal/percussion on track #3 and Tom Calder played bass on track #4.)
SO CAST YOUR VOTE:#1 = Coyote performs "LEVEL 1 = PEACE OF MIND" CD again.
(Sometimes he doubles tracks for an amazing rich sound -- and sometimes he adds new parts not on the album.)
......@shaolinCOM.com?SUBJECT=1_Perform_The_LEVEL_1_CD
OR
......@shaolinCOM.com?SUBJECT=2_Perform_Your_NEW_Stuff#2
= Coyote performs some of the new songs from their new album,
"LEVEL 2 = CHRIST KILLER."
(He'll probably play some songs from the first CD also.)
Either way, 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 CD after the show.
(ed. The price of the CD = $14.88. You pay $10 and get a LIVE SHOW + CD = great deal!)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tom Calder's back in San Diego.
Have you checked out his website?
Tom's got a unique concept for his website.
He's split it into TWO WEBSITES: One for guys and one for girls.
Only Tom could pull this off. He's more than just a 'horndog.' He really appreciates women.
"That's why I'll never get married!" spouts Tom.
"There are two many girls and women and ladies out there I haven't even met yet."
As long as he shows up for rehearsal....
PRODUCER'S NOTE:
(Richard O'Connor, President & Producer of Shaolin Records)
The album titles relate to the 8 Levels of achievement or spiritual evolution in Buddhism. This first album, LEVEL 1 = Peace Of Mind, is about how each of us must be fully independent. The peace and comfort and contentment must come from within.
I've seen some advancement in the zendudes. They have all made some money from performing and album sales.
However, it's their independent natures we are concerned about. Tom's got his "Love Pad."
Coyote is annoying neighbors with his apartment stereo.
Steve's got the nicest house. He inherited it.
Rory still lives at home with his dad. Yet, even Rory has shown some new confidence this year. He's really proud of his SLIDE GUITAR playing.
Rory plans at least two songs on the next album featuring his slide guitar.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Here are your FREE SONGS for MARCH:
"In The Darkness"
Features Tom's BASS SOLO.
Song slows and speeds up and slows and speeds up...
http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com (Sorry. FREE SONG LINKS only valid for one month. Join our AmZen_eNEWS mail list to receive your FRESH NEWS with ACTIVE LINKS.)
"The Teacher Was He"
is actually written about one of bass player Tom's heroes, Burns Kellogg, from San Francisco.
Burns played with MINT TATOO and BLUE CHEER before we ran into him in Venice Beach.
Tom tried to compliment him, but he felt awkward in front of one of his BASS GUITAR role models.
Tom never gets tongue-tied in a room full of girls. But when he meets his BASS HERO...
http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com (Sorry. FREE SONG LINKS only valid for one month. Join our AmZen_eNEWS mail list to receive your FRESH NEWS with ACTIVE LINKS.)
FEATURED PLACE TO PURCHASE CD:
AMERICAN ZEN LEVEL 1 = PEACE OF MIND
Rule Radio
This is a cool internet radio station that has 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
American Zen LEVEL 1 = Peace Of Mind
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
HOT LINKS
The LEVEL 1 website begins here:
ENTER AMERICAN ZEN LEVEL 1
(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:
FREE MUSIC by AMERICAN ZEN
To order American Zen's first album, "LEVEL 1 = Peace Of Mind" go to our shopping cart:
AMERICAN ZEN's FIRST ALBUM
(Official shopping cart of Shaolin Records.)
Thanks for your interest and support.
Sincerely,Richard O'Connor
President - Producer
Shaolin Records
shaolinRECORDS.com
"Where Buddha rocks!"
AmZen_eNEWS APRIL
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!)
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.
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
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...
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.shaolinRECORDS.com (Sorry. FREE SONG LINKS only valid for one month. Join our AmZen_eNEWS mail list to receive your FRESH NEWS with ACTIVE LINKS.)
FEATURED
PLACE TO PURCHASE
CD: AMERICAN ZEN LEVEL 1 = PEACE OF MIND
Rule Radio
This is a cool internet radio station that has 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/index.asp?sub=14334
MORE PLACES TO BUY OUR CDs:
iTunes
This LINK will take you directly to our iTunes webpage
for AMERICAN ZEN - LEVEL 1:
If the above link isn’t handy:
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 "Whose Heaven Is This?" featuring Rory G on ukelele and Tom on Vox organ
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
HOT LINKS
Coyote's website stories:
The LEVEL 1 website begins here:
http://www.shaolinCOM.com/SITE-A/LEVEL_1/Pgs-LEVEL_1/enterL1A.html
(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.shaolinCOM.com/SITE-A/LEVEL_1/Pgs-LEVEL_1/album01A.html
and
http://www.shaolinCOM.com/SITE-R/Pages-R/samplesR.html
To order American Zen's first album,
"LEVEL 1 = Peace Of Mind"
go to our shopping cart.
Thanks for your interest and support.
Sincerely,
Richard O'Connor
President - Producer
Shaolin Records
AmZen_NEWS May 2005
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Monthly newsletter published by shaolinRECORDS.com
Editor: Richard O'Connor
Copyright 2005 Shaolin Communications.
All rights reserved.
The "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
http://www.folkrockTROUBADOUR.comSteve Hixon Drums
http://www.shaolinCOM.com/SITE-A/SteveHIXON/Pages-HIXON/hixon0001A.htmlRory G Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Ukelele, Synthesizer
http://www.shaolinCOM.com/SITE-A/Rory_G/Pages-RORY_G/roryhomeA.htmlTom Calder Bass, Vox Organ
http://www.shaolinCOM.com/SITE-A/TomCALDER/Pgs-CALDER/calderL1-01A.html
American Zen is an exclusive artist of Shaolin Records.
shaolinRECORDS.com
"Where Buddha rocks!"
of 2005
 Purchase the album
LEVEL
1 ="Peace Of Mind" by American Zen |
American Zen WebStories:
LEVEL 1 stories
LEVEL 2 stories
LEVEL 3 stories
