Full Bio
 
Zen Punk is a poet-guitarist-songwriter and the author of the newly-released book 'Commentary Clarity and other Words For Music,' a collection of his lyrics and photographs. He has been playing guitar since he was 10 years old - the same year he discovered camping and canoeing. His guitar playing is raw with an energetic edge, whether finger-picking on his acoustic or experimenting with feedback and effects. Musically, he prefers to follow the direction of each song rather than trying to fit into any specific genre. With the creation of zenpunksongs.com he is finally releasing his music and lyrics to the world and is working on producing more songs and eventually a series of CDs. A long-time graphic artist, he designed and created the Zen Punk logos.

Entering the world stage a few months before The Beatles invaded the States, Zen Punk grew up on the shores of Lake Erie - a Rock&Roll child - but early on he was grabbed by the Blues. As a teenager he was blown away by Johnny Winter - wearing the vinyl off his seminal LP 'The Progressive Blues Experiment.' He savored the sweet sound of blues guitar anywhere he could find it - from Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker to Hendrix, Page and the hypnotic Ali Farke Touré. His love of African music extends beyond the blues to virtually all genres and corners of Africa. In the late '80s he co-founded The Simic Underground, an original rock/punk group that performed in Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph. As the band's guitar player, he wrote and co-wrote several songs.

Zen Punk kicked off the millennium by quitting his full-time job. With that release came many exciting developments in his life: earning a black belt in Karate, training as a Qigong instructor and studying to become a Certified Earth Shiatsu Therapist. Shortly after graduating he deepened his study of Qigong and began training in Kung-Fu.

Around this time he began picking up his friend’s old acoustic guitar during breaks at his freelance gig. Somehow, the combination of all this energy work and Dylan's magic guitar unleashed a flood of creativity and new songs poured out. ZP developed an appreciation for the expressiveness of the acoustic guitar and was inspired to purchase a Simon&Patrick acoustic to complement his Fender Strat and vintage Fender Coronado II.

Currently living on a hilltop with his wife, Zen Punk writes and records music in his home studio. He has recently released his book, 'Commentary Clarity and Other Words For Music' which is available for purchase in print and pdf format here. He's also producing new songs to release as downloads on zenpunksongs.com and working towards a CD release. For more information please contact Zen Punk, or sign up for updates on these projects, a FREE download and other exclusive 'Backstage' material.