EKOOSTIK HOOKAH
''DOUBLE LIVE, DISC ONE''
1996
138:54
1. Music/6:37
2. Brighter Days/5:13
3. Harmonic Convergence/6:11
4. Washboard Annie/5:45
5. Journey/6:23
6. 'Ol Montana Red Dog/8:15
7. Under Full Sail/11:58
8. Looper's Din/6:25
9. Slipjig Through the Poppy Fields/9:34
0. Heavens To Mergatroid/5:58
DISC TWO
1. Viper/17:50
2. Many Times In My Life/8:12
3. Gather 'Round/5:02
4. Indica & Sativa/6:14
5. One World/6:07
6. The Ballad of Sam McCully/9:03
7. Grass/3:15
8. Somewhere Down the Line/10:52
ABOUT
One of the most original and energetic acts around today, ekoostik hookah is the nucleus of a family drawn to its lucid, improvisational treatment of psychedelic rock ’n’ roll, blues, funk, jazz and bluegrass layered with rich harmonies. Born early in 1991 in a smoky basement bar, the band has been continually evolving, cultivating a sound that has perked the ears of contemporaries and attracted fans who travel miles to hear them play.
The Ohio-based band began jamming during weekly open-mic nights when vocalist/keyboardist Dave Katz, lead guitarist Steve Sweney, bassist Cliff Starbuck and guitarist/vocalist John Mullins had full-time gigs with popular bands. The ensemble quickly found a following and began this odyssey when a stranger who heard them at a party bankrolled a trip to the studio to record Under Full Sail. By the end of recording, band members had committed themselves full-time to ekoostik hookah. Drummer Eric Lanese joined in 1993. Since then, the band has undergone a few changes in personnel, including the departure of Starbuck and the addition of bassist Phil Risko and the departure of John Mullins and addition of guitarist/singer/songwriter Eric Sargent in 2010. ekoostik hookah has always independently handled every aspect of its growth.
ekoostik hookah has played in more than 30 states at venues including New York’s Wetlands Preserve, Chicago’s House of Blues, Cleveland’s Nautica Stage, Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse, Boulder’s Fox Theater, Columbus’ Promowest Pavilion, Cleveland’s House of Blues, LA's Whiskey a Go-Go and San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. In 1997 hookah was invited to play at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ekoostik hookah played its first international shows in June 1999 in Negril, Jamaica. Since then the band has traveled back to Jamaica (in 2002), to the Netherlands in 2003 and back to Jamaica in 2006, bringing their fans along each time.
Though intense live energy fuels this band, hookah fans have snatched up more than 100,000 copies of its eight releases: Under Full Sail (1991), Dubbahbuddah (1994), an untitled, two-disc live set (1996), Where the Fields Grow Green (1998), Hookahville Spring ’98 (1998), Sharp in the Flats (1999), Seahorse (2001) and Ohio Grown (2002).
Hookahville, the band’s home-thrown festival featuring two nights of music and camping in Ohio’s green hills, has been called by fans and critics the best music festival in the Midwest. The biannual happening began in 1994 as a camp-out in Dave Katz and band manager Jeff Spencer’s backyard. Growing steadily, it has since been held at different venues on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. The attendance for Hookahville Spring ’00 exceeded 15,000. Hookahville allows the band to create its ideal "no hassles or bad attitudes" playing environment and share it with many fine live acts. Ratdog, David Crosby, Arlo Guthrie, David Grisman, Dickey Betts, Jazz Mandolin Project, The David Nelson Band, Willie Nelson, The Wailers, P-Funk, Robert Randolph, Little Feat, Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, Blues Traveler, Yonder Mountain String Band, Leftover Salmon and many others have played on the Hookahville stage.
BIOGRAPHY
by MacKenzie Wilson
Since 1991, the celebratory jam sounds of Columbus, OH's Ekoostik Hookah has made them one of the finest Midwestern bands to emerge from the neo-hippie scene of the 1990s. Starting off performing at local open mic nights, frontman/keyboardist Dave Katz, guitarist Steve Sweney, bassist Cliff Starbuck, and guitarist/vocalist John Mullins decided that a career in music would be financially trying yet enriching because they had a special passion for it all. The group was instantly noticed at a local party, later gaining studio time to record their debut, Under Full Sail, in 1991. In 1993, drummer Eric Lanese joined the group, percussionist John Polansky joined in 1995, and singer/songwriter Ed McGee completed the Ekoostik Hookah lineup the next year.
Throughout the '90s, Ekoostik Hookah trudged throughout the U.S., playing to countless shows while molding their grassroots/jazz/blues organic sounds. A second album, which was titled Dubbabuddah (1994), focused more on the band's lengthy jams and sonic grooves, yet the 1996 release of the band's live album Ekoostik Hookah was more of an accurate depiction of their relentless rock & roll impeccability, the growl of performing in front of an audience, and the power they had as a live band. It's their laid-back nature, the mellow atmospheric body encased in each song, that makes Ekoostik Hookah as desirable as they already are. Studio efforts are obviously a different set for the group, but it's the down-home good time that cuts the hook every time. A third LP, Where the Fields Grow Green, was issued in 1998 and another live double disc, Sharp in the Flats, followed a year later.
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