Zen Hunter

Zen Hunter is a 5 piece group founded in 2016 (sax, keys, guitar, bass, drums) that plays primarily in Willamette Valley (in Northern Oregon). Their music is an eclectic blend of (mostly) original tunes and incorporates a notable element of improv to what can be some exquisite exploratory jams. They tend towards some heavy grooves and things more oft than not end up in a funky place which encourages dancing and good energetic transfusion with their crowds. . About 1\3 of their songs are primarily instrumental. All members contribute to the body of material.... new and old tunes written individually with a goal of increasingly featuring new collaborations created more in the context of the whole group.

Dean Claeys (sax,vocals) met Kelley Flicker (guitar, vocals) in 2009 and played in Salem area bands Flatback and Jamalia together for several years. When those projects were put on a back burner., they plotted putting together a band that better reflected their shared and diverse musical interests. Dean met bassist Chris Traczyk at a weekly jam Joe Revelli (our original keys player) was hosting in St. Jean's in 2015. Drummer Joe Arnot has played in many bands in the area and we were fortunate enough to leverage a Craigslist search ad into getting him to join the cause. A band is only as good as its drummer, and Joe is all we were hoping for in a beatsman. Ivy Estelle joined the group as lead vocalist in September 17 and we are adding in more material to feature her and add her to our existing material (at a steady pace). Chance Eichner has joined us on keys and been an inspiration in writing some new material and cementing a solid vibe. 2018 is going to be a great year for this band.

?

Zen Hunter has a few solid hours of music to tap for any given show... so can do 1 to 4 sets as required and try to cater their sets to their audience and venue. They are anxious to do some short tours in the months to come, but are looking to play in the Northern Oregon area after playing about 10 shows between Eugene and Portland in their first year together. They have some significant support and have been able to do well in bringing in their people to their shows, as well as garnering more support with every outing.