Phil O'Keefe: Co-producer, engineer, additional instruments and vocals
Bunny Knutson: Drums, additional instruments and vocals
Ken Lee: Guitar, keyboards
Influences
Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, The Who, The Beatles, The Doors, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Pete Townshend, The Rolling Stones, The Police, Tom Petty, Many more!
ZAK CLAXTON'S ALBUM IS NOW AVAILABLE! GET IT HERE!
All the latest Zak Claxton news, including his live show schedule, links to his official blog, and much more can be found on his web site at www.zakclaxton.com.
Zak's 2010 Promo Video for Second Life...
The official music video for "You're Like a Cloud"!
Zak's video for "This Afternoon", created in November 2008.
Hailing from Southern California, Zak Claxton is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Zak Claxton, his self-titled debut that's just been released in December 2009 on the Frothy Music label, represents a lifetime of accumulating musical influences and developing an experienced yet fresh outlook that's refected in his songwriting.
Starting out as a pianist and then picking up the guitar by age seven, Zak has spent a lifetime with music being his guiding force. Spending his late teens and early 20s getting trained at Berklee College of Music and Musicians Institute, he eventually got his degree in music from Cal State University. His services as a songwriter, session musician, live musician and audio engineer were always highly in demand. But until now, Zak has never released his own music.
"I always knew I'd want to do my own album, but I never really considered a specific timetable for it," he says. "You can't force the time to be right for something like this. I just woke up one day and knew the songs were there."
The songs, beyond anything else, are the strength of Zak's debut. You can hear the washes of influence of artists like Neil Young, Tom Petty, Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, and Pete Townshend, combining with Zak's own unique additions. The result is a collection of songs that offer both familiarity and surprise.
Zak turns to acoustic and electric guitars, bass, piano, and the occasional harmonica to carve his vision. Taking a rootsy approach to both the songwriting and recording of the album, Zak enlisted engineer/co-producer Phil O'Keefe, drummer/multi-instrumentalist Bunny Knutson, and other friends to help shape the songs in the format you'll hear on Zak Claxton.
With a loyal, enthusiastic fan following, Zak always jumps at opportunities to performing his songs live, most frequently in the 3D Internet environment of Second Life. In any case, the real story of Zak Claxton is in the music... listen now!
