current_members website years_active article_title past_members background genre origin name
jeff mattson klyph black tom circosta dave diamond -lsb- http://www.zentricksters.com/ www.zentricksters.com -rsb- 1979 -- present zen tricksters
 rob ciarvella alan lerner barraco jennifer markard joe chirco pete levin joe group_or_band rock long island , new york zen tricksters
zen tricksters

the zen tricksters are an american grateful dead cover band .
for almost thirty years , the zen tricksters have been playing grateful dead covers and jam band music , as well as derivative original songs .
the band started out as the volunteers , playing small venues around new york 's long island .
at its core , the band has been composed of jeff mattson on lead guitar and vocals , for most of its history , tom circosta on rhythm guitar and vocals , and klyph black on bass and vocals .
over the years , the zen tricksters have gone through several lineup changes .
jennifer markard was a founding member and original songwriter and vocalist in the band it 's first ten years of touring .
both jeff mattson and one of their former members , keyboard player rob barraco , was called to play with phil and friends for three shows in october 1999 , and rob continued to play with phil lesh and friends , and with such groups as the dark star orchestra , the other ones , and the dead .
their current line up , in addition to mattson , circosta , and black includes dave diamond on drums .
in 2006 they began touring with former grateful dead singer donna jean godchaux mackay as kettle joe 's psychedelic swamp revue , with drummer joe ciarvella .
in late 2006 the band changed drummers and formed donna jean and the tricksters .
in 2009 the band morphed into the donna jean godchaux band and it retained jeff mattson .
the zen tricksters went on hiatus from touring but klyph black , tom circosta and dave diamond are touring with additional musicians as klyph black & rumor has it .
