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Zak Borden

'Without music, life would be an error'-Nietzsche

About Me


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"BORDEN'S LIZZIES HAVE CHOPS TO SPARE"-The Willamette week,Portland, OR
"FILLED WITH LOVE, LONLINESS...(SONGS) LIKE A FAVORITE PHOTO YOU TAPE TO THE FRIDGE BECAUSE IT MAKES YOU HAPPY WHEN YOU SEE IT" -Performing Songwriter
"RICHLY CHIMING MANDOLIN" - Paste
"ALL MANNER OF TUNEFUL SORROW..." -Guitar World, Acoustic
"AN IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION OF MODERN ROOTS MUSIC" - Dirty Linen
Zak Borden is a picker, songwriter and singer of American roots music. He has clocked tens of thousands of road miles in the US and Europe and worked with leading purveyors of traditional and contemporary acoustic music. He has proved his versatility having toured, recorded with and co-produced roots-rocker Casey Neill, worked with songwriter Willy Mason, Bluegrass Grammy nominee Kate MacKenzie, folk diva Tracy Grammer, with Celtic players Martin Hayes, Hanz Araki and the late Johnny Cunningham and has collaborated closely with first call Jazz/classical bass master Buell Neidlinger (Cecil Taylor, Everyone else). In the last year, Zak has nearly doubled his discography as a sideman and now he's sorting though a big backlog of his own instrumentals and songs for release.
Zak was born amidst the folk music scare in Cambridge, Mass where he was exposed to all kinds of roots music. His uncle played in New Mexico's Last Mile Ramblers (with Junior Brown). His sister plays banjo, a cousin that tours the world rockin', His grandfather built guitars and fiddles and his songwriting aunt worked and played at the renowned Longview Recording Studios. But things became critical at 16, when one midnight in July he witnessed two members of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys playing on the street....in other words...Zak had no choice.
In addition, Zak is a sought after instructor having taught at major camps and festivals including a faculty spot at The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. [email protected]
Zak performs solo, with Rachel Harrington and sometimes Darren Smith, Willy Mason... spread the word.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/22/2006
Band Website: zakborden.com
Band Members: Zak currently plays solo and tours with RACHEL HARRINGTON. He's known to play gigs with WILLY MASON, MIKE GRIGONI, HOLLY O'REILLY, THE WATSON TWINS, CASEY NEILL and BUELL & HIS STRINGLICKERS.
Influences: Thelonius Monk, Bill Frisell, John Hartford, Leonard Cohen, Stuff Smith, Prince, and so on.
Sounds Like: American roots, dirty granges, flatpicking, big vocal ranges, evil grooves, tight harmonies... lots and lots of lonley little birds and humble songs that ain't got no fancy words.
Record Label: Tradical Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

EUROPE!

Hey y'alls! I'm off to tour with the very talented Rachel Harrington across the UK and a few shows in Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. Rachel's site is more up to date than mine so go check out the...
Posted by Zak Borden on Mon, 08 Oct 2007 03:48:00 PST

Max Roach rest in peace.

Just earlier today I was teaching a mandolin student today and she asked about syncopation. I launched into a tangent about how I thought great rhythm is all about learning how to divide and place em...
Posted by Zak Borden on Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:07:00 PST

Buellgrass!

I'm very pleased to announce the release of a record I'm on by bass/cello master Buell Neidlinger. Buell is a rare breed of musician that has an uncanny ability to turn music outside-in and inside-ou...
Posted by Zak Borden on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:46:00 PST

Woodshed Zen (or Note to Self)

Every musician should have a woodshed. A place you go to do your work. And by work I mean play. That is, I mean where work and play become one. Where any distractions are confined to hanging shove...
Posted by Zak Borden on Fri, 20 Jul 2007 01:03:00 PST

Recent session projects

Here are a few recent and upcoming records I'm on: Willy Mason "If the Ocean Gets Rough" (Virgin/EMI) "****!" from: UNCUT, Q, Time Out London, MOJO, Times of LondonAlso features Roseanne Cash, JD Fost...
Posted by Zak Borden on Fri, 16 Feb 2007 02:05:00 PST