The Bath Salt Zombies

  The Bath Salt Zombies are a central Florida band currently on their second tour through states east of the Mississippi.  Their performances are an entertaining mix of originals and covers that has been variously described as sideshow cabaret, carnival/pirate fusion, and grunge grass.  Their unique sound is created by Graham Woodard—rhythm guitar, mandolin and vocals, Zane Bowman—banjo, theremin and vocals, Dan Croley—percussion and vocals, Tucker Cobb—acoustic bass, upright bass and vocals, and Jesse James—fiddle and maracas.

     The group came together in the fall of 2012.  They played more than 100 shows the following year, including several festivals in and around Florida.  Some of the stops were Orlando, St. Pete, Tampa, Vero Beach, Melbourne, Live Oak, Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Ft. Lauderdale.  Festivals included the Orange Blossom Jamboree in Brooksville and Bamboo Jamboo in DeLeon Springs, both in Florida.

     In 2014 they came into their own as a Florida favorite with the February release of their first CD, “Hairy Women and Farm Animals EP”.  This was also the year for their first national tour organized around attending the Muddy Roots Festival in Cookeville, Tennessee.  This late summer circuit included 16 dates in three weeks in eight states from Georgia to Ohio to Illinois.

     2014 also saw BSZ develop shows featuring innovative use of black light reactive props, costumes and makeup.  Their award-winning, themed festival campsite stage efforts feature UV art, as well as stage and prop design and engineering done by the band and the BSZ Production Crew.  Themes presented so far are: “Zombies in Space” at Orange Blossom Jamboree in 2014 which won 2nd place for best campsite, “Electric Zombieland” at Gov Fest 2015, and “Zombies of the Deep” at OBJ in 2015 where they came in first for best electric campsite.  A future theme in the works is “Electric Zombieland 2” for the Pass the Good Festival in Pensacola at the end of July 2015.

     BSZ’s theatrics and refreshingly different approach to music with folk roots gained them an invitation to perform at WMNF’s 34th Annual Tropical Heatwave Festival in Tampa in May of 2015.  July 18th, 2015 saw the release of their first full-length CD, “Six Feet Under the Big Top” marking the start of this summer’s national tour with over a month of dates in Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, then back to Florida for a final week on both coasts.  Highlights on this tour are the Terrapin Hill Family Reunion Music Festival in Kentucky and several dates with other touring bands including the Rumpke Mountain Boys, the Madpolecats, Daysleeper and the Josh Daniel/Mark Schimick Project.

     A unique sound, an unusual style of dress (mid 1800s Victorian) represented by their top hat logo, and engaging repartee with their audiences are all signatures of this up-and-coming group, The Bath Salt Zombies.