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| Industry | Media |
|---|---|
| Founder | Steve Bernstein |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Zenbu Media is a media company located in New York City, United States and founded by Steve Bernstein [1] that is focused on the music industry, sporting the slogan "we live for music."
Zenbu Media formerly published Relix magazine, Global Rhythm magazine, Metal Edge Magazine, and Metal Maniacs magazine.
Relix Magazine was founded in 1974 by Les Kippel as a newsletter focusing on The Grateful Dead. Originally the publication was called Dead Relix and was less than twenty pages thick with a hand-drawn black and white cover. By 1978 Dead Relix had dropped the word "Dead" from its title and expanded to include articles about the entire Bay Area psychedelic scene. From here the scope of Relix expanded to encompass musical genres such as reggae and heavy metal.
After the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995 Relix began to report on jambands and other genres of music not considered as mainstream. In 2000 the magazine was purchased by Steve Bernstein and in 2007 it entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Today, Relix covers a variety of jambands, indie rockers, singer-songwriters, and the live music scene in general. Also, each issue comes with a free CD sampling various up and coming bands. Bernstein sold "Relix" to Relix Media Group in 2009. [2] [3]
Metal Edge was the longest-running metal magazine in America. It was first published by Sterling Publishing in 1985 and was closed in 2009. Its founding editor was Gerri Miller.
Metal Maniacs covered heavy metal music and was founded in 1989 by Mike Greenhaus and Kathrine Ludwig. The magazine was focused on covering the underground metal with an emphasis on the black and death metal genres. It was published by Sterling until Zenbu Media purchased it. Metal Maniacs was published ten times annually. It was closed in 2009.
Zenbu Media is in charge of two major events: The Jammys and the Green Apple Music & Arts Festival.
The Jammys is an award show geared towards jam bands but also including other live improvisational genres of music.
The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival (GAMAF) is an Earth Day celebration. Founded by music producer and former Wetlands Preserve club owner Peter Shapiro and Relix Magazine, the annual event features musical performances in venues and rock clubs, as well as large-scale free public outdoor concerts. The festival combines live musical performances from various genres with educational outreach and cultural events, and is held around Earth Day, April 22.
Relix Records is a boutique record label. Current releases include: Jonah Smith, John Popper Project featuring DJ Logic and Phil Lesh & Friends.
Additionally, Relix Classics, and imprint of Relix Records digitally release the works of artists including Jorma Kaukonen, Hot Tuna, Flying Burrito Brothers and the New Riders of the Purple Sage.
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As the owner of these recordings, Zenbu filed lawsuits in January 2015 against streaming-music companies such as Apple's Beats, Sony, Google, Rdio, Songza, and Slacker for streaming pre-1972 recordings without having licensed them. All of the lawsuits were quickly dismissed, except for the lawsuit against Sony. [4] [5]
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the lead vocalist. The band is known for their musical improvisation and jams during their concert performances and for their devoted fan following.
A Deadhead or Dead head is a fan of the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The Deadhead subculture originated in the 1970s, when a number of fans began traveling to see the Grateful Dead in as many shows or festival venues as they could. As more people began attending live performances and festivals, a community developed. The Deadhead community has since gone on to create slang and idioms unique to them.
The Disco Biscuits are an American jam band from Philadelphia. The band consists of Allen Aucoin (drums), Marc "Brownie" Brownstein, Jon "The Barber" Gutwillig, and Aron Magner. The band incorporates elements from a variety of musical genres with a base of electronic and rock. Their style has been described as trance fusion.
Oteil Burbridge is an American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band from 1997 through 2014, and as a founding member of the band Dead & Company. Burbridge was also a founding member of The Aquarium Rescue Unit and Tedeschi Trucks Band, with whom his brother Kofi Burbridge was the keyboardist and flautist. He has worked with other musicians including Bruce Hampton, Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Bill Kreutzmann and Derek Trucks.
RAQ are a psychedelic/progressive rock jam band quartet from Burlington, Vermont.
Metal Maniacs was an American magazine that was based around heavy metal music.
Relix, originally and occasionally later Dead Relix, is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concerts. It rapidly expanded into a music magazine covering a wide number of artists. It is the second-longest continuously published music magazine in the United States after Rolling Stone. The magazine is published eight times a year and as of 2009, had a circulation of 102,000. Peter Shapiro currently serves as the magazine's publisher and Dean Budnick and Mike Greenhaus currently serve as Editor-in-Chief.
The Slip is an avant-rock trio from Boston, Massachusetts. The band consists of Providence, Rhode Island brothers Brad Barr and Andrew Barr (drums), and Marc Friedman. The three also play with singer-songwriter Nathan Moore and keyboardist Marco Benevento in Surprise Me Mr. Davis. Brad and Andrew Barr additionally perform with Montreal-based ensemble The Barr Brothers.
The Jammy Award is an awards show for bands - referred to as jam bands - and other artists associated with live, improvisational music, created by Dean Budnick and Peter Shapiro. The Jammys are sponsored by Relix magazine, Jambands.com, and Shapiro. The Jammy Awards returned in 2008 to the WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City after taking a one-year break.
Joe Russo is an American drummer and half of the Benevento/Russo Duo. He has toured, performed and recorded with a number of other bands, including Cass McCombs, A Big Yes and a Small No, Fat Mama, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Bustle In Your Hedgerow, Younger Brother, Shpongle, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, the Trey Anastasio/ Mike Gordon duo, the Gene Ween Band, and Furthur. He also plays with the Shpongle Live Band. In 2013 he formed a Grateful Dead tribute band called Joe Russo's Almost Dead.
etree, or electronic tree, is a music community created in the summer of 1998 for the online trading of live concert recordings. etree pioneered the standards for distributing lossless audio on the net and only permits its users to distribute the music of artists that allow the free taping and trading of their music.
The Green Apple Festival was a music and arts festival, advertised as America's largest Earth Day Celebration.
Lotus is an instrumental electronic jam band formed in Goshen, Indiana in 1998 now based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Denver, Colorado.
Metal Edge was a magazine covering heavy metal music published by Zenbu Media. The magazine was founded in the summer of 1985, during the height of glam metal's success. While its sister publication, Metal Maniacs focused more on extreme subgenres of heavy metal such as thrash metal and death metal, Metal Edge focused more on glam metal and traditional heavy metal. The magazine was originally edited by Gerri Miller, and later by Paul Gargano.
Furthur was an American rock band founded in 2009 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. The original lineup also included John Kadlecik of Dark Star Orchestra on lead guitar, RatDog's Jeff Chimenti on keyboards and Jay Lane on percussion, and Joe Russo of the Benevento/Russo Duo on drums. Named after the famous touring bus used by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters in the 1960s, Furthur was an improvisational jam band that performed music primarily from the extensive Grateful Dead songbook, as well as their own original music and that of several other well-known artists. In addition to the original members, the band's lineup included backup vocalists Sunshine Becker of the a cappella ensemble SoVoSó and Jeff Pehrson of the folk rock bands Box Set and the Fall Risk. After five years, Furthur disbanded in late 2014.
A jam band is a musical group whose concerts and live albums substantially feature improvisational "jamming." Typically, jam bands will play variations of pre-existing songs, extending them to improvise over chord patterns or rhythmic grooves. Jam bands are known for having a very fluid structure, playing long sets of music which often cross genre boundaries, varying their nightly setlists, and segueing from one song into another without a break.
Dean Budnick is an American writer, filmmaker, college professor, podcast creator and radio host who focuses on music, film and popular culture. Budnick, who is editor-in-chief of Relix, grew up in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
Peter Shapiro is an American club owner, concert promoter, filmmaker, magazine publisher, author and entrepreneur from New York City. He is widely known as the promoter for Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead, the Grateful Dead's 50th anniversary "final shows". Shapiro first gained renown through two films that screened at the Sundance Film Festival: Tie-Died: Rock 'n Roll's Most Deadicated Fans (1995) and American Road (1997). He has gone on to produce numerous other projects including U2 3D (2007) and All Access: Front Row. Backstage. Live! (2001). The Producers Guild of America identified him as one of "The Digital 25: Visionaries, Innovators and Producers of 2009". On June 8, 2016, Shapiro was honored at the annual gala of the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival.
John Ginty is an American organist, keyboard player, and session musician. He was a founding member of Robert Randolph's "Family Band", and is often seen guesting with such jamband luminaries as the Allman Brothers, Santana, Govt. Mule, Bob Weir and Ratdog, Widespread Panic. In 2001 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, Ginty was the recipient of the Jammy Award for best new band alongside his Family Bandmates. Ginty has spent a large portion of his career working with many top artist as a session musician.
Spafford is a U.S.-based jam band that blends multiple genres of music including rock, funk, jazz, reggae, ska, and electro-pop. Its members include Brian Moss (guitar/vocals), Jordan Fairless (bass/vocals), Nick Tkachyk (drums/percussion/vocals), and Cory Schechtman (keys/sax). The group self-releases its recordings, including studio albums, improvisational sessions, and soundboard releases of their live shows.
