Virgin Islands Part 1

Times are good! The festival kicked off today and the all the remaining gigs are on St. John. So far Zach has played four gigs - two in St. John and two over on St. Thomas at Island Time Pub and Hull Bay Hideaway. We've worked out all the kinks and now it's smooth sailing in St. John as we build up to the 4th of July gig at local favorite, The Beach Bar.

We arrived in St. John on the 25th and chilled out for the evening in our prized hotel, the St. John Inn. The town of St. John is so small, full of friends and open-minded people looking for a good time. The bars, inns, markets and music are all located on the beach or within a 5 minute walk of it. Zach's first two gigs went well and as we left for St. Thomas, we were all pleased with our move to Gallow's Point Resort. Now we're living like kings; now we can relax.

After only a couple days in St. John, we felt as if we knew everyone in town, or would by the end of our vacation. I thought I'd break this trip in two blogs since I have a pretty good feeling the beginning of this trip will be vastly different than the end. We settled into our spot, played four shows that have gotten better each night, and are ready for the festival that's running in town all week long!

The beginning of the trip went well besides parts of the first gig at Rhumblines and our living space. We were staying at the St. John Inn which was conveniently placed in the downtown, but didn't offer us enough space after we stored the PA system following the show. We were all really excited for the show at Rhumblines since Zach hadn't played out in a quite a few days. The staff was out of this world and made us feel welcome as we settled in for our first of 10 shows while we're here on the islands. We switched to the Gallow's Point Resort after a couple days and ever since, we've been on cloud 9.

Gallow's Point is the bomb! We feel like four bachelors in paradise. My buddy Jerome came down from Maine to join us; Jerome is the ZD street team coordinator and helps keep the website up to date. The music scene down here in St. John is ready for live music when it passes through, but that's rare. Coupled with the small town vibe and great venues for tunes, we're all pumped to be here! Just playing four shows, we've started to see lots of familiar faces and smiles as we pass through town. Now we're in St. John for a string of gigs leading up to the huge bash on the 4th of July at The Beach Bar. There is a festival in town which runs two weeks and operates all day and night, bringing constant live music, dancing, drinking, shopping and good eats. Zach is playing at the two hottest spots on the 3rd and 4th of July and we've been told to prepare for paradise. Haha, two weeks in the Virgin Islands with a festival coinciding, ending on the 4th of July, yeah right...

Two days ago was my favorite gig at St. Thomas' original beach bar, Hull Bay Hideaway. We stuffed five people and all Zach's gear (including PA) into a small jeep and took the half hour drive to Hull Bay. We arrived 3 hours early to the gig and enjoyed swimming in the ocean and taking in the sites. We were happy as could be when we saw all the games - pool, darts, horseshoes, ping pong and more. We're all super competitive over here in camp so we decided to start a new competition. Race to 50 wins in any game; winner stays on. Quarters, ping pong, pool, any game. Right now Jeremy has a 2 point lead with 4 wins, but that'll change.

The Hull Bay Hideaway gig was different, but good different. Early in the day we lounged in the ocean and played ping pong with a bunch of mothers around us, smiling and waving. Sweet, a Mom show! I don't mean this is any way, so don't read into it - it's just shows with parents are bad ass. They don't care what they look like, they just wanna dance. The men eventually loosen up enough to kick out a leg here and there, then the old couples come out and it's a full on party. That right there is what makes me so happy when I'm at music. I have this gift of hearing and feeling music to this insanely intense level, but the one thing that makes me happier than anything is when people let go and dance. Seeing the people that we're standing against the wall get dowwwwwwwwwn - nothing in the world makes me happier! One thing that we did notice about the crowd was that all these ladies would dance so hard, the whole crowd could only last two songs then there would be a couple song break. A few new friends came over from the last two shows, so we enjoyed our time with them and look forward to hanging out with them and many more new friends over the next week.

As I said before, we're now back on St. John for the rest our time down here and are ready to kill it. Just like always, we're recording every show Zach plays and have the Sunshine album in hand. The buzz is being spread throughout Cruz Bay and we're looking forward to large crowds as we wrap up our last gigs on the island. Stay tuned for the follow up to this when we get back to the States...

Let's move to Asheville

We just finished up our last shows in the States before we head off to the U.S. Virgin Islands for 8 shows in 10 days. Our short run through the South consisted of four shows in three days, performing twice in Asheville, NC. I love Asheville; I’d never been, but always wanted to visit. Last summer I applied for an internship at a Landscape Architecture firm where they let you pick the office you want to work in. Being the music lover that I am, I chose Asheville, but unfortunately wasn’t selected. When we pulled into Asheville on Friday night I had dreams of going down the rock waterslide and disc golfing; none of which came true.

As we pulled up, there was a band performing right outside The Emerald Lounge that was part of the Downtown After Five Concert Series. Asheville is a musically rich town, with loads of good eats, art/culture and all the mountains and hiking trails you could ever want. “Hippies” and dreadlocks are a common site, which left Jeremy and I grinning ear to ear as we walked around town before the gig. Currently living down the road from Northampton, Massachusetts, I’ve learned to love all the eccentric folks, street performers and small little hippie shops that no one knows about. Since confirming the date a few months ago, Asheville has been the stop I’ve been looking forward to the most this summer. Our plan was initially to spend the night in Asheville so we could play the next day since our drive to Knoxville that night was only a couple hours. As stated before, we weren’t able to do so as Zach performed a 1.5 hour set at Summer Solstice in Asheville the next day.

The Emerald Lounge gig was a lot of fun and had a great turnout. One of our new friends from Bonnaroo came out to see us in Asheville and continued on the road with us for the next couple shows. She worked merch with Jeremy as well as running around taking pictures. Thanks for all your help Jen. The show was solid from start to finish, but naturally hit its peak half way through the second set. Trippin’ On The Bassline was the highlight of the night for me, and started a run of 11 songs that ended the show with a bang. Thoughts Of Yesterday lead into a crowd favorite, Wormtown. Twisty Twisty followed which segued into Savannah, a song that shows some of Zach’s strong song writing skills as well as his ability to perfectly layer a song to form a slow, yet funky composition that keeps the crowd moving from the first note. Jeremy’s favorite Into The Morning Into The Night was a standard dance party, as was Fresh Street. One of my all time favorites, Most People Never Heard Real Music capped the set, with an encore of You Don’t Even Love The Girl and Mama Don’t Think. I know I just listed off songs, and for those of you who don’t know the songs, this paragraph must render itself pretty meaningless, but maybe that will urge you to buy the show. Any show we play, you can either purchase at the show, or contact me through the Zach Deputy website and I can get you all squared away with a link to download the show.

As a whole the show was a lot of fun, but Jeremy and I got a little extra treat when the sound engineer offered to let us run lights for the night. Ever since my days following Dave Matthews Band, I geek out hard over lights. Fenton Williams, DMB’s lighting engineering is one of the best in the business and growing up watching those lights really tied the whole show together for me. After DMB, I began to find the jamband scene, which was soon followed by the underground scene and a real grassroots movement. Falling down the tier of bands, the lights and production of their respective shows fell too. This made me even more grateful for what I had experienced in the 40+ DMB shows I caught over the years. I loved finding smaller, unknown bands as I could see something in them that no one has seen yet, but there were still no lights, and lights are a huge part of any show. DMB was eventually replaced as my favorite band in 2006 by Umphrey’s McGee. Umphrey’s was slowly moving up the jamband totem pole, but always had lackluster lighting until 2009. Then came Jeff Waful. Jeff Waful, forming lighting engineer for moe., is a GOD and was welcomed by the Umphrey’s family with welcome arms. I find myself just starring at Jeff during shows, wondering what’s going on in his head as his paints the venue with the colors that compliment the peaks and valleys of the music. I’ve met Jeff several times and maybe someday I’ll be able to sit down with him and really pick his brain. Until then, I split time running lights with Jeremy for Zach at The Emerald Lounge in Asheville, NC. As much fun as it was to run lights, Jeremy has a real talent and strong interest in developing that part of his career so I let him take the reins for the majority of the show. Don’t get me wrong, I was the happiest kid in the world when I was on those lights, but Jeremy did a great job synching up the lights with Zach’s music - so I just enjoyed it from back off the room with DP in hand. Before I move on, I just want to thank everyone that is following this blog – you wouldn’t believe how many people buy Jeremy and I Diet Pepsi and Red Bull. You guys are amazing; we’re all creating quite the community. Next time, come find Jeremy or I and we’ll get you your drink of choice, it’s only fair.

The next day we gigged in Asheville again at Summer Solstice Festival before heading to Knoxville for a show at World Grotto that night. Being a college town in summer, Knoxville wasn’t the most happening place in the world, but that didn’t stop us for getting all sorts of funky. We loaded in and had plenty of time to eat and wander around before the show. World Grotto faces on Market Square where Sundown On The City takes place, the city’s weekly summer concert series. We just missed a monster of a show, performed on Thursday where Toubab Krewe opened for The Wailers. Zach will be performing his only opening gig of the summer when he opens for The Wailers at Brown Foreman Amphitheater at Waterfont Park in Louisville, Kentucky on July 24th. Hopefully some of you will make the drive to Louisville; the location is absolutely gorgeous!

Market Square in Knoxville was full of street performers, people watchers and kids playing in the fountain. I ventured down to a man made stream in the park during set break to take a bit of a rest and enjoy some time to myself. Zach played a solid show in what was one of the most unique venues I’ve seen. The venue looked like you were in a cave and offered stadium seating with cushions and pillows for those who wanted to enjoy the music at a different pace. Zach’s version of Patty Wagon Funk and Getting Stinky wrapped up the first set on a high note. The second set was solid through and through, but highlights were the set opener Lincoln Continental and the set closing segue of Let’s Get In On > Sunshine > Gimme Something That’s Real.

The end of the night was different to say the least, but we all made it back to the hotel where we then proceeded to sleep until 7 PM. Catching up on some sleep was welcomed by all, and now we’re enjoying our drive through downtown Atlanta on our way to Zach’s house where we will spend the next couple days preparing the Bonnaroo Box Set and getting ready for our trip the U.S. Virgin Islands. My advice to you: get in the plane, it’ll be worth it, I swear!

Wow, I actually LOVED Bonnaroo

I never thought that I would say I loved Bonnaroo, but damn did I soak up every single second of it. I never quite understood why people would go to Bonnaroo, the Wal-Mart of festivals, when you could go to Wormtown Music Festival in Greenfield, MA or other small scale festivals that are offered every summer. There's something to be said about small festivals - every corner you turn, your bumping into a friend or making a new one that you know you'll see back at the main stage in an hour. On the complete other end of the spectrum is Bonnaroo. Over 100,000 people and a ticket price reaching up towards $300. And for what? Hour long walks from your campsite to the stage, which when you get there leaves you no views of the performance cause you can't get within 100 yards? Or clusterfucks of people walking between stages, waiting for food/bathrooms/showers or just forming a crowd on shakedown street? The good thing about it all is that you can find anything you want. I want music, boat loads of new people to meet and dance with, and the opportunity to walk into the sea of tents in search of the unknown. I love you Bonnaroo, I really do.

Ok, so we all know how it ended - Zach played 24 sets, totaling 147 songs, in 4 days and everyone absolutely ate it up! Now let's back track. Jeremy, Zach and I pondered taking the RV up to the festival, but decided to stick with our box truck since the RV is huge and so is the price of the parking passes for it. We got into Manchester, TN Wednesday night only to find out that the festival was on lock down and we couldn't get in until Thursday morning. We played in the Wal-Mart parking lot, got some Wendy's and chilled by the empty pool at the hotel, meeting some fellow Mainers and enjoying one another's company. In the morning I woke up to find two girls tenting out next to our room, so I invited them in. Turns out one of them, Samantha, goes to school with me at UMass and doesn't know it now, but will be joining my friends and I for TONS of music when we get back to the Northampton area. After finding out that we couldn't bring our box truck down to the vending area, the Wormtown van came to pick us up and shuffle two loads of gear, including our stranded girls, to the festival. It's kind of hard to explain what exactly we were doing at Bonnaroo. Zach wasn't on the Bonnaroo lineup, but was instead performing in a crowded vending/camping area right on main shakedown. We were staged under the Wormtown Trading Company tent which also saw two of my favorite acts perform - Jeff Bujak and Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad.

When we first got to the festival, it was pure madness. Not quite sure where we were setting up, how long we were staying there (we were originally going to perform all over the festival grounds), having people come ask questions, figuring out places to set up camp - all the while trying to make a show happen - was lots of fun. I like to juggle a thousand things at once and that's what we had to do. The first performance of the festival was around 4:00 PM on Thursday and was a great kickoff to the weekend. In Centeroo there were only three stages going, so having Zach perform outside in the camping area was great. Crowds started to form after only the first couple of songs and by the end of the first set there were upwards of 300 people at Zach's stage. Mark, Zach and I enjoyed a nice laugh after the first set, realizing that things were going to work out just fine. I broke off after the first set to explore Centeroo and see the general layout of the festival. I found myself at the Fuse tent making vinyl spin art - something that I will be implementing at my festivals in the future. It was what it sounds like - put a vinyl record in a box and let it spin and just pour paint on it. I like how it came out, and would much rather have vinyl art than a t-shirt any day.

Logistically, Bonnaroo is a small city and damn is it run perfectly. Everywhere I looked I was finding fresh new ideas for both art and vending, as well as staging areas, FOH, tour bus parking, recycling and speaker systems. Bonnaroo has been going on for a long time and it shows. We were lucky enough to come through the vending entrance, skipping over all the cars in line on the first day that stretched back over 20 miles on the interstate. Going through the vending entrance afforded me the opportunity to see some alternative ways to bring people into the festival, the roads they used, the parcels of land they leased, and the arrangement of parking. This was a great festival for me. I was able to sleep on main shakedown so the walk to Centeroo was 5 minutes at the longest, and was able to see an amazingly eclectic lineup of music as well as see how this monster of a festival is run.

We had a new arrival on the merch table in the form of Zach’s new CD. The slated release for Sunshine is July 28, but got 900 copies for a soft release at Bonnaroo. Since this was a guerilla-style marketing event, we weren’t getting paid and knew we had to focus on merchandise sales. Luckily enough for us and all those in attendance, we were recording every single set of music at the festival. 30 minutes after each set, there was a CD available for purchase to take home and spread around to your friends. These Zach Deputy Lives are the topic of much conversation in ZD camp. Trying to stay fresh, coming up with new, progressive ideas and figuring out ways to spread the music farther each time. We have lots of great ideas that you will all see soon enough.

On Thursday, Zach performed three sets before having to shut him down for the last time due to some large incoming storms. Jeremy and I had to breakdown and cover up the stage multiple times, leaving us absolutely exhausted after only day one. But c’mon, I’ve never too tired for some of that good ol’ drum and bass. So I grabbed some waters (taking a break from the Diet Pepsi for the festival) and beboped over to Centeroo for some late night action. As soon as I got there I bumped into one of my very good friends from Chicago, Abby, who I had stayed with after Summercamp as I waited to jump on tour with Zach in Cincinnati. Abby and I had a blast at the late night dance party. There were sofas and chairs, surrounded by Xboxes and lava lamps for those who were feeling tired, but for those who weren’t, the music went until 5 in the morning. The highlight of the late night for me was the silent disco next door, though. There was a large tent for the DJ and ragers, but everyone in attendance had headphones on. This was a lot of fun for those watching, as you just see people wiggling and then all of a sudden they break out screaming and clapping. There were no more headphones left when I got there, but that didn’t stop me from jumping on the crowd’s groove and dancing with some new friends for a little before it ended. I hope some of you got the chance to experience it.

After heavy rains that night, the Wormtown booth purchased a tractor trailer load of hay, which when stacked next to the stage provided a great vantage point of Zach. Zach performed six sets on Friday, none better than the bubble set. I’m not joking when I say this could go down in ZD history as one of the best sets ever performed. I’m really working hard to archive things so everyone can enjoy this music in the future. This set will get looked back upon and enjoyed for a very long time. An improv, Bubbles, opened the set followed by So Fine and Let’s Roll. I Wanna Know, The Way You Make Me Feel and When No One’s Looking followed before the house came down. A new tune, Fifth Street, was the climax of the show before I got my request of the always danceable Magic Carpet Ride > Sex Machine > Magic Carpet Ride sandwich. Good times!

Saturday was a day full of sunshine and dancing at the Wormtown tent. You could tell the buzz about Zach was being spread throughout the festival as the crowds were getting larger and larger. Since we didn’t have solidified set times, there were quite a few people that would linger around in hopes that the funky dance party would soon start. For those of you who purchased the entire 24 disc package, you will greatly enjoy some songs that you either won’t ever hear again or that will eventually evolve into songs that Zach keeps in his catalog. After the first couple sets and having people ask what the difference was between each disc, we decided that there would be no repeats throughout the weekend. Trying not to repeat any songs, Zach would sprinkle in some grooves that he was feeling – add some vocals and a couple solos and you have a well structured song. Some of my favorite moments throughout the festival were these deep grooves he was feeling, so my suggestion to you is buy the box set. After an overwhelming response, we are going to create a Bonnaroo Box Set with over 24 hours of music. As I type this I have my headphones on, combing over the stacks of CDs, making sure every song is titled and trying to dwindle it all down to 6-8 songs so we can create a podcast on the website for those of you who weren’t in attendance.

Back to Saturday night – the night that never ended. I had an hour to go see as many late nights as I could before Zach started up at 2:00 AM. I raged Nine Inch Nails for bit, and then headed over to moe. for 20 minutes. I decided to pass by Ben Harper and MGMT on my way back to shakedown because they weren’t sounding too hot. Zach played a nice, fatty late night which ended just shy of 7 in the morning. This night was epic for two reasons – the infamous Wormtown jello shot party and the Haystack Hoedown. Trapper was in the crowd passing out jello shots, putting Wormtown’s total of jello shots given out to over 290,000. Wormtown has been doing a good service for a long time! Being able to share this experience with Wormtown is something that is really hard to put into words. Duck, Trapper, Mark, Debbie, Jess, Long Hair and Jay have a GREAT time selling merch and dancing all the while. During Haystack Hoedown there wasn’t one person in the crowd or at the Wormtown booth standing still. The crowd had about 200 people in it and they stirred up one of the biggest frenzies I’ve seen. Hay flying everywhere, people screaming at the top of their lungs, Zach killing it – I was home. I couldn’t help but start laughing uncontrollably as I danced barefoot in the hay, dosie-doing with a cute little mama to my favorite form of funk performed by one of my good friends.



For those of you who don’t know me, I’m tall and like space, so I dance in the back. This is great for two reasons: 1.) dancing space and 2.) seeing people’s faces as they walk up. For those of you who have seen Zach, you understand what his music is all about. It’s warm, inviting music, connecting fans and friends. He has the wow factor. At Bonnaroo, I loved being able to dance in the back and watch people walk up from shakedown and see the “what the hell is this funkkky stuff?” on their faces. Then I have the privilege of telling them that he is performing all weekend long, recording every single second of music. After music ended, Jeremy, little Jean Cleary from New Hampshire and I finally got to explore the rest of the festival grounds. We took a nice long walk in search of pirate flags to steal. Before you get mad, this is common practice at festivals. If you have a pirate flag, you’re asking for it. The rules of the game are simple – if you have a flag, you must fly it and you must be ninja to steal it; if you fight over it, it loses its appeal. Jen, Jeremy and I walked around til 11 in the morning in search of pirate flags, spotted quite a few and strategized for the next night when we would take them. The Wormtown booth had three flags, we needed to defend them as well as gather more. Jeremy and I had a ball strategizing while looking at the flags, going all ninja style around the camps to see who sleeps where, in what direction and what the best plan of attack is. Sad thing is Zach played so late on Sunday that we didn’t get to steal the flags, but we’re just crafting our skills for all the other festivals we’ll be at this summer.

I just want to end this by putting out a big thank you to everyone. Thank you to Mark and everyone at Wormtown for making this happen as well as all the old and new fans for turning out. Thank you so much to the girls, Brit and Samantha, for helping out in any and every way possible; I’m glad our paths crossed. Also thank you so much to Gideon and Jason for your help, it doesn’t go unnoticed and we all greatly appreciate any help you can and do give. We are all one big happy family, seeing what needs to be done and doing it. Everyone surrounding us can see the big picture; a stable foundation created through grassroots style marketing and performance is the best way to build any career. You guys are all part of this and I’m so happy to be sharing it with all of you!

Wanee and Hilton Head

Spirit of Suwanee Music Park, the home of Wanee Music Festival and Bear Creek Music Festival, is pure magic. Zach will be performing twice at Bear Creek in November and hopefully many of you will join us. I will be back at school then, but you can bet that I’ll be clearing that weekend so I can get funky in Florida. As I said in the previous blog, we drove through the night and arrived at Wanee around 5:00 AM Sunday morning. We parked the truck and were greeted by friends before unloading what we needed for the night. After a quick unload, we all dispersed into the early morning to find any dance party or form of fun, but to no avail. The grounds were quiet, but absolutely mind blowing. I ventured off by myself to find some of the park features that I’ve heard so much about.

In every sense of the word, I’m the biggest music nerd there is. I want to know everything; every single detail that has to do with music production and the business itself. I was running around the woods at Wanee all by my lonesome, happy as shit that I get to do this as a job. Wondering how many stages there are and where are they located. Are there direct paths connecting the stages? Why is the front of house so massive and blocking views? Where are the cables running? Are they buried or exposed? What kind of lights do they have? LEDs? Where is the hospitality tent in relation to the artist entrance? Are the garbage bins overflowing and why haven’t they been emptied? These are just some examples of the millions of questions that run through my head every time I get to a show/festival.

The morning we got to Wanee was exactly what I needed, even though there were no dance parties to be found. I met some great people as soon as I got to the grounds and just started thinking back to last summer when I took the summer off to festie hop at all the festivals I promoted for. Solid friendships and new adventures came out of that summer and I only hoped this summer would stack up to last. Walking around the music park was so peaceful with the vegetation drooping over my head as I explored the mushroom stage. The mushroom stage, besides the awkward FOH positioning, is one of the coolest stages I’ve seen. It’s a natural amphitheater with trees sprinkled throughout the arena. Hammocks were tied between every tree, quite a few acting as homes for the night.

After the mushroom stage, I headed over to the main stage to see what that was all about. The stage was being torn down as all the music was done for the weekend. I decided to kick off the birks and dance in the mud for a little before venturing off to find the river. It’s easy to dance in the mud with no music when there is constant music running through your head. My brain is a library of what I’ve heard, seen and created in my 25 years – it’s amazing how easily you can remember things when you eat, sleep and breathe it. The rest of the morning was just me walking around, unable to find the river. I got back to my tent around 7:30 AM and chilled by the hammock with Jeremy and Sarah before passing out.

The early afternoon was a success as I finally found the river. It was a looooong walk, and now I understand why so many people have said they won’t come to Spirit of Suwanee Music Park without a golf cart. The walk was worth it though, as I got to chill down on the beach for a half hour or so before going back to camp for that afternoon’s load in. Zach’s gig started around 5:00 PM and was a very different set. The venue had hired an experienced light engineer, making Zach’s show all the better. The first set was very relaxing and saw almost all new material. The second set got going around 8:15 PM and was a blast from the get go.

Every since I’ve gotten on tour I’ve been in Zach’s ear about the wide world of electronica. As you all know, Zach is all about soul. I bleed funk, I love it…but I also love to trance my brains out. If it makes you dance, I like it. On our way to the gig, we busted out some Michael Jackson house music, which was a lot of fun. Picking up on some drag hi-hat as well as some drum and bass lines, I urged Zach to explore. The show saw Zach throw down some really interesting layers, pulling from some of our talks. Zach has such a unique sound and is lucky that he appeals to EVERYONE. There is no question that Zach Deputy is dance music for the soul – and there’s also no question that electronica ragers will love him. The show as a whole was a lot of fun, with a ridiculous version of Tubesteak and one of my new favorites Don’t Let It Get You Down. Games followed by Fresh Street was a great sneak peak at what’s to come on Zach’s new disc as well. The highlight of the night for me and many others was the set closer Jump In The Water. This song has grown leaps and bounds since its debut and really has turned into a crowd favorite. With a little bit of calypso, celtic, dance hall beats and country flair, this song is a boggiefest. The Music Hall at Wanee is the perfect venue – it’s huge with tons of dancing space. Everyone at the show dug deep to muster up all the energy that had left and wiggle til the music stopped. This show was everything the three of us expected it to be with a good turn out and tons of friends.

After the show we all headed back to camp to unwind and enjoy some laughs. The festival was over so very few people were left, but those left gathered at our campsite and had a great time. Festie season is in full swing and I’m so ridiculously excited to be meeting so many new people as well as bumping into so many old ones. We’ll be at Bonnaroo on Wednesday where Zach will be performing multiple sets everyday of the festival. Hopefully you will all brave the heat and make it out to the show. We have recently just bought another CD duplicator so we’re ready to bust out lots of Live ZD discs. We’ll be recording every set, so come pre-order the show with Jeremy and pick up all your discs after the show. There’s nothing like the live experience, now you can relive it with a soundboard recording!

As for the Hilton Head gig, Zach played a nice long set to an enthusiastic crowd at Big Bamboo. The venue was packed out making it one of the hottest evenings of my life. Load in was a real treat, having to huff Zach’s huge PA up a flight of stairs, but once we got inside it was all worth it. Zach played a really fun version of Tubesteak the other night in Florida and we enjoyed the hell out of the recording so much on our drive to Hilton Head that he decided he would go with another version similar to that one. Tubesteak is a fun song with its original structure, but these last two versions have been absolutely incredible; I’ll say once again, the shows is worth the purchase for this version of Tubesteak alone. We are archiving all these show so if you didn’t pick up the discs at the show, fire me off an e-mail and we will take care of you. All my contact information is on the Zach Deputy website.

With all these shows behind us, and a day off to collect our thoughts, we are focusing on Bonnaroo and the craziness that comes with it. Zach will be performing multiple sets everyday throughout the festival on the solar stage on shakedown street as well as performing in the camping areas. We are currently looking at the Bonnaroo schedule, figuring out set times and bands that we either don’t want to miss (NIN late night!!!!!) or don’t want to compete against. We’re looking forward to all the exposure that awaits us at Bonnaroo, as well as the opportunity to unveil Zach’s new album Sunshine. We are picking up 900 copies on our way to the festival, so be the first to get your copy! To end I’d like to add one more note, completely unrelated to ZD. If you are looking to see a talented performer, please check out Jeff Bujak playing VERY late night every night of Bonnaroo. Buj plays progressive piano and some of the best electronica I’ve heard. He is one the most talented performers I’ve seen and I’m so very excited that such a good friend (and fellow disc golfer) will be performing at Bonnaroo with us. Buj is tentatively playing every night from 4 to 6 AM. Check him out, I’ll be there!

The ball is gone

What a string of shows we’ve just had. But let’s get right to it, the super bouncy ball is gone. In Charleston, when the crowd was singing happy birthday to Zach, he ran off stage, grabbed the ball and chucked it into the crowd, never to be seen again. There was something special about that ball; I envisioned a whole summer with that guy…too bad.

I’m sitting here typing this blog listening to Zach’s soundcheck at the Music Hall at Wanee Festival. We got into the festival around 5:00 AM this morning after a long drive from South Carolina. Both Georgia and South Carolina treated us right over the last couple gigs. We got back on tour on Thursday, playing to a small, yet enthusiastic crowd at The Georgia Theater. We were all in high spirits arriving at The Georgia Theater as this is THE VENUE in the Southeast. This venue has held every performer that has ever performed, so we were delighted to be headlining it. I had a great time in the green room, taking pictures of posters and autographed pictures. Seeing posters that had dates of when Dave Matthews Band, Phish and Red Hot Chili Peppers all performed for $3. $3? Those were the days. DMB just played Fenway Park the other day for $91 a ticket. Anyways, the show had its moments – namely Into The Morning Into The Night and I Bit His Ear (Mike Tyson Parody) into the long awaited return (for some fans) of Free Turd, Zach’s rendition and response to cheers of Freebird. I was feeling good when the second set started off with a barrage of covers, of which I call Hip Hop Medley. Many of you know this sandwich of songs; it usually consists of theme songs from Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, James Bond, Vanilla Ice, and others. Rarely do I ask for songs, but mid second set I got my request of Fresh Street, a feel good song off the new album Sunshine, slated for release in late July.

Our next gig was at The Pour House in Charleston. This show is easily my favorite show since being on the road. Zach turned 27 at midnight, and with lots of friends and family in the crowd, it was quite the night. We are working hard over here to archive every show with audio, video and pictures now. Every show will be available at Zach Deputy shows and hopefully, eventually available online. I mention this for two reasons: 1.) it’s great to be able to leave the show with a recording of that specific show and 2.) because I can’t get Zach’s version of Quarter In My Pocket out of my head. This show is worth the download/purchase for this version alone! Any of you catching shows in the near future, come up to Jeremy at the merch table and ask about some Live ZD CD’s – we got recordings of a lot of great shows. Another note about the live recordings: BRING A USB THUMB DRIVE TO THE SHOW AND WE WILL BURN THE ENTIRE SHOW FOR ONLY $5! Since we’re talking about bringing stuff to the show, I’ll add one more bit. In response to the loss of the super bouncy ball, we are creating a rubber band ball, so please bring a rubber band (or rubber bands) and take it over to Jeremy at the merch table and be part of the new Zach Deputy tour ball.

After our gig at The Pour House, we headed back to the hotel in Columbia, setting up a short drive to Rock The Dock the next day. Rock The Dock was absolutely amazing – from the music, to the people, to the location, to the cold Diet Pepsi. This was an event put on by Tmayn Entertainment out of Columbia, SC. It was a large gathering of people at a private residence, giving off the block party vibe. Patrons paid their $20 to get all the free food, music and beer they wanted. The massive slip and slide leading down to the lake was the hit of the party. I found myself playing cornhole and dancing in the muddy spots of the lawn – relishing in the fact that this is indeed my job. Over 700 people stuffed the yard, leading from the stage at the top of the hill all the way down to the dock. Boats slowly gathered throughout the afternoon, bringing in even more people by the end of the day. Woodwork Roadshow opened for Zach, who played a relaxing, yet entertaining set. I uploaded a video of Bluffton from this show to Facebook and both Zach and I’s YouTube channels, as well as this blog. I hope you guys are checking in on Zach’s YouTube channel – I’m trying to put up videos from every show. I will be uploading weekly pictures as well on Facebook. The end of the first set into the beginning of the second set was the highlight of the show for me personally. Some of Zach’s newer material was used to open and close the sets. Always-funky Cross Town ended the first set, only to see a soothing rendition of You Don’t Even Love The Girl get people ready for the second set of music. One of my favorite songs, Most People Never Heard Real Music, followed and was a welcomed return to Zach’s setlist after a little time on the shelf. After telling Zach how much Little Bit Of You is growing on me, he ended the show with a wildly different version of the song. He easily found a deep groove that pushed the song throughout, ending the set on a high note for both me personally and all those in attendance.



Now it’s time to go rage Wanee. The festival runs Thursday through Saturday, but Zach is playing a benefit in the music hall right now. We have lots of friends in attendance and have been looking forward to this show for a long time. Tomorrow we are playing another benefit in Hilton Head, SC so check back in a couple days to read about the review of all the happenings of Wanee and the show in Hilton Head. I’m off to go dance with smiling strangers and only begin to imagine where the night will take us.

Days off

ZD camp will be on the road and in full force tomorrow, rolling into Athens, GA to play the historic Georgia Theater. The three of us have enjoyed a nice four day break, preparing for nine shows in eleven days. We all arrived at Zach’s house early Monday morning and did some production research for the upcoming festivals, namely Bonnaroo. We’re so very excited to have the opportunity to play multiple sets each and every day at Bonnaroo – talk about exposure!

Jeremy and I decided to head down to his hometown in St. Augustine, FL for a couple days of fun in the sun while Zach stayed home to see his family. We got down to Florida early Tuesday afternoon and met up with some friends and got some tasty food at Stir It Up. Stir It Up is the coolest place on the planet – go there and say hi to Sarah, Erin, Esme and Rocco while they prepare some of the best food you’ll ever taste.

The couple days off down here were exactly what we needed. Being on tour is a blast, but it’s so hard to slow down and sleep when you need to. There’s always someone to talk to or something to experience, so sleep isn’t an option just yet. We met up with Jeremy’s sister, Sarah, who will be joining us on the road for the next four shows. We also got the opportunity to sit in on a recording session at Light It On Fire Productions which was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

The main reason for the break in Jeremy’s hometown was for him to produce some glass for the ZD merch table. Watching him hard at work is a lot of fun, he’s a talented kid. Need some patch work, glass blowing or tech help? Jeremy’s your man. He helps the ZD train keep moving forward, always brainstorming progressive ideas that will further the team in the long run.

Zach is at home picking up his PA which will take his sound back to a whole other level. We look forward to playing through our own system as Zach’s PA is top of the line. It was fun loading in and out of shows with little gear, but with the addition of a PA and subs, things just got a little bit heavier and little bit harder. We can’t wait though!

Relaxation was the key to this trip so Sarah and I went to a barbeque while Jeremy stayed and worked on glass. He was up til about 4:00 AM pumping out some amazing work that you will soon see on the ZD merch table when we come through your town. We toured around St. Augustine which is an absolutely beautiful place. Everyone is so chill down here – it’s one of those places where it’s uncommon to walk by someone and not say hi. I love it here and all the people here are wild about ZD. Many of them are going to see Zach perform at Wanee Festival in Live Oak, FL on Sunday. Zach will be performing two sets on Sunday, one from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM and the other from 7:30 PM to midnight. The venue is an absolute gem in the festival world and should be seen by everyone and anyone who enjoys music in a natural setting. One stage is settled in a natural amphitheatre with hammocks tied between each tree – we can’t wait.

Our last day off before heading back on the road was great. Bike rides to the beach, more grub from Stir It Up, kite flying, glass blowing, live music and relaxation on the beach. Jeremy has been raving about the kite he has, so we headed down to the beach to take a stab at it. This thing is impressive; swooping and diving through the sky. I struggled with it at first, but got the basics down, enough of a foundation for our two week trip down to the Virgin Islands at the end of the month.

Jeremy, Sarah, Erin, Esme, Gemma, Megan and I met up at the beach where there was large gathering of people for a dance off at the pier. There was an oldies band in the pavilion and youngsters outside playing volleyball in the sand. Hola-hoopers rounded out the crowd, making this a great way to end our last night in St. Augustine. Jeremy and I are now back in the shack, jamming out to some nasty trance and blowing glass. I’m trying to keep on top of this blog so I don’t get behind when we get back in the bus tomorrow. Just to note, after receiving free red bulls in our rider at Nelson Ledges in Ohio, our merchandise manager Jeremy is now HIGHLY addicted. If you see him, please reward him with a red bull. He’s a good dude that does a lot of great things in the ZD camp. Show the guy some love with a nice cold red bull, he’ll love you for it!

Loving on Ohio

We just wrapped up four shows in four days, capping it all off with a visit to GORGEOUS Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Garrettsville, OH. Hopefully many of you have gone over to the Zach Deputy fan page on Facebook or visited Zach's YouTube channel to see some of the videos I took over over the course of the four shows. If you haven't subscribed to Zach's YouTube channel or become a fan on Facebook, I highly suggest you do so, as I will be putting up videos of shows, tour antics and who knows what else.

Let's take a step back. When I last left off, we at ZD camp were in intense preperation for our wiffleball game in Akron. The show preceding the game was a lot of fun; our good friends, Ashes, were on the bill with Zach at The Barley House. Right next door to the venue was a small temporary 2,000 person amphitheater which was packed full of residents soaking up the sun and enjoying that evenings performance. After load in, the bands and their respective members enjoyed a nice big meal together all the while talking a little bit of game and reminising over the last wiffleball contest.

With wiffleball on my mind, I quickly became lost in the moment with all these game surrounding us. For those of you who are unfamiliar with cornhole, I suggest you research the game. A couple years ago I built my own game and soon became obsessed. I heard cornhole was wildly popular in Ohio and finding the game in bars and restaurants wasn't uncommon. There was also a sort of shuffle board game at the Barley House which was a great warmup to the show. Zach and I got in quite the battle - I battled back from a large deficit to earn the W, which Zach blammed on distractions from fans. I generously granted Zach a rematch, just to give him another dose of the same thing. For any of those who know me, I'm a stud muffin at worthless sports. Basketball, baseball, soccer = awful. Ping pong, raquetball, cornhole, beer nuts, fooseball = stud. Enough about that though.

The show was a lot of fun with Zach pulling out a debut entitled You Don't Even Love The Girl. Other highlights on the night were a great rendition of the Mike Tyson parody I Bit His Ear, and the constantly evolving dance party that is Lincoln Continental. For those of you following the blog, you've already heard about the super bouncy ball - connecting ZD fans since May 28th, 2009. Let it be known that this venue was a restaurant with a basketball hoop. Mid set, the ball made is first appearance - knocking over drinks and generating huge laughs. A couple folks made some impressive shots before the ball got put back in the bin, eventually to return at another show.

After the show, we loaded out and headed to the Ashes house for the big game. The house had a large back yard, which was home to a bonfire and slews of tents. We situated the cars to get the game going, which was a hassle to say the least. There were quite a few jacks deep into the woods, which put the game in jeopardy once we only had one ball left. Zach led us to victory with two dingers, putting to rest another challenge offered by Ashes. We look forward to coming back to Ohio for another match with them. After the game, we enjoyed the fire and acoustic ZD songs before packing up around 6:30 AM and driving an hour to the festival.

I could hardly contain myself as we pulled up to Nelson Ledges around 8:00 AM. Visiting this fesitval grounds has been a dream of mine for about three years now, so to say I was excited was a huge understatement. I have tried several times to come out here, but the drive from Maine is about 12 hours. Either way, we were there and there was nothing left to do, but enjoy it. The three of us, grossly over-tired, stumbled through the festival grounds and picthed our tents right on the edge of lake. This venue is absolutely incredible. The two stages are on the beach, cliffs surround the lake for cliff jumping and large woodland camping encourages late night strolls where anything and everything can, and will, happen.

The three of use passed out til about 4:00 PM and lounged for a good part of the day. I geeked out pretty hard when we received our goodies from our rider. A cooler full of red bull, water, diet pepsi, bud light, rum and orange juice was delivered by a staff member - I couldn't believe it. I grabbed a couple DP's and ran around the woods spreading the ZD love and evenutally making my way to the stage for some tunes. I enjoyed being able to run backstage to the hospitality tent to get a couple plates of fried chicken, pasta salad, maple potato wedges and some brownies for good measure. I could see myself getting used to this!

Max Allen Band was a real treat, hailing for Indianapolis, IN and getting the small crowd moving. Zach had played on the same bill with them before, so he sat in on a couple songs to end their set. They are a very talented bunch of guys and would sugget giving them a listen. Another band I would like to suggest is one of my very favorite bands, Japhy Ryder from Burlington, VT. I found this band a couple years ago at grad school in Northampton, MA and fell in love. I had no idea they were on the festival bill, so you can understand my excitement when I saw them walk out on stage. I quickly proceeded to kick off the birks and dig in, enjoying the hell out of their one hour main stage set.

Zach performed two sets in front of a very large crowd later that the evening. His first set at 8:00 PM started off with a groovy Get On Board and a birthday dedication of the song Home to our friend J Dog. It was a lot of fun to meet so many good people on my first pass through Ohio. There was a small ZD family that made it's way from one show to another which was a real treat. After Scotty Don't finished their set, Zach was on for a quick half hour before Badfish and absolutely tour Nelson Ledges apart. The short, but killer setlist included Into The Morning Into The Night > Lincoln Continental > She Says > Scrambled Eggs. The crowd ate it up hard with several bands, including Badfish, giving the highest of praises to the ZD camp.


After load out, Zach grabbed his guitar and the three of us walked into the woods for what we hoped would be a party filled night. To our disappointment, the majority of things slowed down around 4:00 AM, which put us to bed around 5:00 AM. I love festies and their late nights, so this was quite a disappointment, but we all still managed to have some fun stories when we all reconvened in the morning. The next morning we cleaned out the bus and got on the road to enjoy a couple days off and take a chunk out of the monster drive down to Georgia. We stopped in Athens, OH for a potential party/gig with wildly talented electronica act Papadosio, but things didn't go as planned, leaving us without a party or a chance to collaborate with some talented fellas.

Nonetheless, with Zach's killer set at Nelson Ledges, we ended the Midwest swing on a high note. The trek down to Zach's house in Georgia was a little on the long side, but we got the opportunity to take in some scenic views and listen to the live shows as well as the new cd Sunshine, which is slated for release on Tuesday, July 28. The three of us are now enjoying our time in the South, preparing for our next five gigs, which include some very unique shows. Zach will be performing on a boat for his birthday at Rock The Dock in Chapin, SC on Saturday, June 6th. The only way to get to the show is by boat, with dancers on the beach and in the water - we're all very excited for this one, as well as the Thursday show at the Georgia Theater and the benefit concert at Wanee Festival in Live Oak, FL on Sunday.

Well, I appreciate all of you keeping up with the ZD blog. We're gonna enjoy the next couple of days off and look forward to seeing you all at the historic Georgia Theater on the 4th!