A duo of superb multi-instrumentalists and singers, playing original tunes and songs in the bluegrass style, as well as “world music” – traditional pieces in special arrangements. They started their collaboration in 2020 and have performed in theaters and at festivals in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, the UK, and the USA. In 2023, they published their first joint CD, “Eastern Grass”, which was subsequently released in the USA by David Grisman’s recording label “Acoustic Disc”. They have collaborated with players and groups such as Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Becky Buller, John Cowan, Druhá tráva, and others.
Radim Zenkl – mandolin, flutes, didgeridoo, piano, vocal
Ondra Kozák – guitar, fiddle, dobro, bass, vocal
Radim Zenkl
was born in Opava, Czech Republic. In the 1980s, he was active in the groups Athabasca and Rozkol. In 1985, he founded and led the band Tyrkys, which won the Czech national band contest Porta in 1988. Since the summer of 1989, he has been active in the USA, where in 1992 he won the prestigious all-American mandolin competition with international participation, the “Winfield Mandolin Championship”. He has recorded eight CDs, collaborated as a studio player on more than 80 CDs, and invented a masterful technique, the “Zenkl style,” in which a single mandolin sounds like two. Besides his solo performances, Radim has been collaborating with the top musicians of the US acoustic music scene and played in a duo setting with artists such as Tim O’Brien, Peter Rowan, David Grisman, Tony Trischka, Chris Thile (in a quartet), Scott Nygaard, and others. He has recorded eight CDs, including a CD of improvised duets with Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Mike Marshall, and others (Strings & Wings, Shanachie, 1996), and appeared on more than eighty other recordings. Radim has performed and taught workshops at festivals such as the IBMA Trade Show, Merlefest, Telluride, Rockygrass, Walnut Valley (Winfield), and more. His instructional DVD ‘Mandolin Primer’ was released on Homespun in 2015. Radim has taught at over 70 week-long music camps and was invited as a guest lecturer to the world’s most prestigious music institutions, such as the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and the University of Padova.
Personal website: www.zenkl.com
Ondra Kozák
comes from Northern Moravia, Czech Republic, and focuses mainly on acoustic music: bluegrass, folk, and new acoustic. As a guitarist, he has recorded two solo albums (Ataman, 2014; Overtones, 2019) and has won the title of “Guitarist of the Year” five times in the Czech Bluegrass Association poll. He has participated in more than 30 studio albums with various groups, with whom he has won the prestigious European Band of the Year competition at the La Roche Bluegrass Festival in France four times. In 2024, he won the Mike Auldridge Instrumental Composition Contest in the USA for the best original composition. On various occasions, he has collaborated with prominent figures on the world music scene, such as Mike Marshall, Dan Crary, Bill Evans, Casey Driessen, John Reischman, Beppe Gambetta, Dale Ann Bradley, Steve Gulley, Cia Cherryholmes, Mike Compton, and others. He organizes regular music workshops and camps in the Czech Republic and also teaches at various bluegrass camps in the USA and Europe. He founded an online music workshop and is the author of several educational publications. He publishes the ATAmusic podcast, a Czech audio series for musicians. In his recording studio, he records, directs, and produces albums for bluegrass and folk bands.
Personal website: www.ondrakozak.com