ekoostik Hookah

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.

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 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 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 band’s home-thrown festival featuring two nights of music and camping in Ohio’s 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 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. 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.

Band Members:
Cliff Starbuck Cliff@ekoostik.com

Dave Katz Dave@ekoostik.com

Eric Lanese Eric@ekoostik.com

John Mullins

Steve Sweney Steve@ekoostik.com

Pictures:
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SonicBids Press Kit: N/A

Fall 2004 Lineup: 2 nights of ekoostik hookah, The Funky Meters, Dickie Betts & Great Southern, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Hayseed Dixie, Bernie Worrell & the Woo Warriors, and Rob Wasserman. Also featured in the Late Night Bluegrass Jam: Brando’s Bluegrass All-Stars, and The Stringtown Pickers.

Friday September 3 – Sunday September 5, 2004

Frontier Ranch Music Center, Pataskala Ohio (just east of Columbus) at Rt. 40 and York Road

Address: 8836 York Rd, Pataskala OH 43062

Gates open at noon Friday September 3.

The music is Friday and Saturday.

Camping and parking included in ticket price, quiet and RV camping available.

Tickets are $65 through August 22nd, $75 after that through Ticketmaster, and $85 at the gate. There is a single day ticket starting at 8am Saturday, September 4th for $55 available at the gate. Children 10 and under are free.

There are no pets (animals of any kind) allowed at Hookahville. No nitrous. BYOB, food and merchandise vendors will be onsite.

More info and tickets: www.hookahville.com or 1-888-TIXX-100