əkoostik hookah is a

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational "jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often cr ...

from

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. Formed in 1991, the band has made multiple national tours in the US, as well as performing in overseas locales like Amsterdam and Jamaica, although they may more commonly be found playing local

venues like

Newport Music Hall Newport Music Hall is a music venue located in the University District of Columbus, Ohio, across the street from the Ohio Union of the Ohio State University. It is "America's Longest Continually Running Rock Club". History Newport Music Hall op ...

and

Lifestyle Communities Pavilion KEMBA Live! (originally the PromoWest Pavilion) is a multi-purpose concert venue located in the Arena District of Columbus, Ohio. Opening in 2001, the venues operates year-round with indoor and outdoor facilities: the Indoor Music Hall and Outdo ...

. They are fixtures in many fine venues across the midwest. The band has shared the stage with many of today's top touring "

jam bands A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational "jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often cr ...

", as well as stars such as Willie Nelson, Arlo Guthrie, Bob Weir, and Bruce Hornsby. The band's name, pronounced "Acoustic Hookah," was taken from dictionary entries for the two words. The phonetic spellings were chosen, and the schwa (ə) became the band's official symbol. "

Schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...

" is also the title of a song by keyboardist and primary songwriter Dave Katz. The band endorses a number of charitable causes; among them, Pittsburgh's ongoing BurghSTOCK Concert Series that benefits area non-profits that assist homeless and disabled military veterans.

Hookahville

Hookahville is a semi-annual music festival featuring performances from many local and regional bands and usually hosted and headlined by əkoostik hookah. Formerly located at Legend Valley in

Thornville, Ohio Thornville is a village in Perry County, Ohio, United States. It is north of the county seat of New Lexington. The village had a population of 1,087 as of the 2020 census. History Thornville was originally called Lebanon, and under the latter ...

or at Frontier Ranch in

Kirkersville, Ohio Kirkersville is a village in Licking County, Ohio, United States, along the South Fork of the Licking River. The population was 525 at the 2010 census. Kirkersville was platted in 1832 by Dr. William C. Kirker, and named for him. Geography Kir ...

, it was moved to Zane Shawnee Caverns in Bellefontaine, Ohio in 2017 where Hookahville 50 was held in September 2018 and was əkoostik hookah's reunion show with eh2.0. Hookahville 51 was held at Brushy Fork Phamily Ranch in Newark, OH in May 2019. Hookahville 52 was held at Clear Fork Adventure Resort in Butler, Ohio where eh2.0 returned for one more performance. Spring Hookahville is held the weekend before

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

weekend; the end of summer version is held during

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

weekend. In November, 2020, an event was held online due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

but is not considered the official Hookahville 53 which was ultimately postponed until September of the following year.

Members

*Dave Katz - vocals/keyboards/acoustic guitar (member inception–present) *Steve Sweney - lead guitar (member inception–present) *Eric Lanese - drums/vocals (member 1993–present) *Matt Paetsch - Bass (member 2018–present) *Eric Sargent - vocals/guitar (member April 2010 – present) *John Mullins - vocals, rhythm guitar (member inception–1996, 2006–2010, no longer with the band as of 2010/04/05) JamBands.com
/ref> *Cliff Starbuck - bass/vocals (member inception–2009, left band at the end of 2009 to pursue other musical projects) *Ed McGee-guitar/vocals (member 1996–2005) *Johnny Polansky-percussion/drums (member 2000–2005) *Steve Frye (aka "Octofrye") - drums (member inception–1993) *Don Safranek - percussion (member 1992–1994) *Matt Paetsch - bass (member 2018–present) *Phil Risko - bass, vocals (2010-2017)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1991 till:31/01/2019 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:1991 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:percussion value:claret legend:Percussion Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1991 PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Dave Katz from:18/04/1991 till:31/01/2019 color:keys bar:Dave Katz from:18/04/1991 till:31/01/2019 color:vocals width:3 bar:Steve Sweney from:18/04/1991 till:31/01/2019 color:guitar bar:John Mullins from:18/04/1991 till:07/08/1996 color:guitar bar:John Mullins from:12/04/2006 till:27/03/2010 color:guitar bar:Ed McGee from:25/09/1996 till:31/12/2005 color:guitar bar:Eric Sargent from:27/03/2010 till:31/01/2019 color:guitar bar:Cliff Starbuck from:18/04/1991 till:31/12/2009 color:bass bar:Phil Risko from:01/01/2010 till:31/12/2017 color:bass bar:Matt Paetsch from:26/01/2018 till:end color:bass bar:Steven Frye from:18/04/1991 till:26/08/1993 color:drums bar:Eric Lanese from:18/05/1993 till:31/01/2019 color:drums bar:Don Safranek from:18/06/1992 till:09/07/1994 color:percussion bar:Johnny Polansky from:01/03/2000 till:01/10/2005 color:percussion width:3 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:John Mullins from:18/04/1991 till:07/08/1996 color:vocals bar:John Mullins from:12/04/2006 till:27/03/2010 color:vocals bar:Ed McGee from:25/09/1996 till:31/12/2005 color:vocals bar:Eric Sargent from:27/03/2010 till:31/01/2019 color:vocals

Discography

* ''Under Full Sail'' (1991) * ''Dubbabuddah'' (1994) * ''Double Live'' (1996) * ''Where the Fields Grow Green'' (1997) * ''Sharp In the Flats'' (1999) * ''Seahorse '' (2001) * ''Ohio Grown'' (2002) * ''Under Full Sail: It All Comes Together'' (2007) * ''brij'' (2013) * ''Halcyon'' (2017) * ''31 West'' (2021)

Filmography

* ''Spring Hookahville'' (2004), YBP * ''New Year's Eve'' (2005), YBP * ''Live at the Newport'' (2007), YBP * ''Almost Legal'' (2011), The film was recorded at the March 12, 2011 concert at the

in Columbus, Ohio in celebration of the band's 20th anniversary. It was produced by Desert Custom Photography Las Vegas.

References

External links

* http://www.ekoostik.com * http://www.hookahville.com * http://www.hookahheads.com * from Hookahville 2000.
Ekoostik Hookah collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekoostik hookah Rock music groups from Ohio Jam bands Musical groups from Columbus, Ohio