ZenBeer aka Adam Tanner

Adam Tanner initially picked up the bass at the age of 15, inspired by his close friends who were playing guitar and wanted to form a band. Very quickly, the influences of bassists such as Les Claypool, Geezer Butler, Steve Harris and Tony Levin began to sink in. Throughout his high school and university days, Adam played with as many bands as he could, both full and part-time projects, trying to sponge up as much musical knowledge and experience as possible.

Upon Adam's return to his native Ottawa, he discovered that being fried in the morning at work after an all-night jam session was well worth it, and did this as often as possible, while continuing to give and take lessons and play, play, play.

In 2003, inspired primarily by Steve Lawson and Michael Manring , Adam began experimenting with loopers. Zen Beer was born.

Fast forward to 2004, after many jam sessions and bands, the Zen Beer project was ready. A series of home recordings followed, some of which were later released in 2007 as The Cosmic Trigger EP. These songs were mostly ambient soundscape-style pieces, with many loops built around long, droning notes and volume swells.

The home recordings received so much positive feedback that it was time to take things to the next level. In 2005, Adam recorded Grand Unified Chaos, the first full-length ZenBeer album, at the Gallery Studio in Ottawa. Although a couple of the songs from the previous home recordings were redone, much of the album was written in the studio and much of it was improvised. The album is an eclectic mix of ambient, experimental and progressive jazz/rock elements.

In 2006, ZenBeer signed with ItsAboutMusic, an e-label based out of Philadelphia, PA. As a result of IAM's distribution, ZenBeer albums and songs can be found at many digital outlets including iTunes, Napster, eMusic , Audio Lunchbox and many more.

Positive happenings were again afoot in 2007 as Grand Unified Chaos was reviewed in Bass Guitar Magazine. Later that year, ZenBeer performed at the Lodo Bass Bash in Denver, CO, alongside well known soloists such as Jean Baudin, Yves Carbonne, Jeff Schmidt, and others. 

After being sponsored to attend the NAMM show in Anaheim, CA in 2008, it was sufficient inspiration to record a third album in the spring of 2008. Bass, the Universe and Everything was a much more complex album than the previous two, involving 9-string bass and more use of layered loops, percussive lines, melodic leads and electronica-like effects to produce a very unique sound. Bass, the Universe and Everything  will be available in May 2009.

Currently, in addition to ZenBeer, Adam is part of the three-piece band Space People, and is doing studio work in the Ottawa area.