About Me
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Shooting Star from Fall Hookahville 2006!
One of the most dynamic acts on the road today, ekoostik hookah is the nucleus of a growing 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 thousands of fans who routinely travel hundreds of miles to hear them play.ekoostik hookah has played in more than 30 states at venues including New Yorks Wetlands Preserve, Chicagos House of Blues, Clevelands Nautica Stage, Atlantas Variety Playhouse, Boulders Fox Theater and San Franciscos 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 with a couple hundred fans attending from the United States. Since then the band has traveled back to Jamaica (in 2002, and to Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2003), playing 3 shows and bringing hundreds of fans along.Though intense live energy fuels this band, hookah fans have snatched up more than 75,000 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 bands home-thrown festival featuring two nights of music and camping in Ohios quiet green hills, has been called by fans the best music festival in the Midwest. The biannual happening began in 1994 as a camp-out in Dave Katz and band manager Jeff Spencers 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. In the past, Ratdog, David Crosby, Arlo Guthrie, David Grisman, Dickey Betts, Jazz Mandolin Project, Merl Saunders and the Rainforest Band, Zero, The David Nelson Band and Leftover Salmon, among others, have played the Hookahville stage. Since their birth ekoostik hookah has independently handled every aspect of its growth.I would love to just tell the fans that it's been an honor to have been a part of this. I will definitely miss the feelings I got playing with these guys and for our wonderful fans. I truly appreciate their caring and support so much. Every time they sang along, it meant so much to me. I hope the fans don't forget me - I'll never forget all the great times. -Ed McGee The one thing I can guarantee is that, in 2006, we will play. I don't know when, I don't know where, and I don't know how often. I don't even know with who, but we, the remaining four members of ekoostik hookah, will play somehow. -Dave Katz Hookahville is ours... We run it the way we want it to run. We have the bands that we want to have, and we treat people the way we want them to be treated. There's no bigger company involved. It's definitely the crown jewel of what we've done. Over the years, besides the songs, Hookahville is the thing we can be proudest of. It's a great thing because we did it at a time when there weren't the same kind of festivals. No bands that I knew of were doing this. Nowadays, that's a different story. -Dave Katz
