We just heard from Kenny Smith that Zak McLamb is now officially the new bass player in The Kenny & Amanda Smith Band. Zak has been filling in with the band since Alan Bartram left to join The Del McCoury Band last fall, and just recently accepted the Smith gig on a permanent basis.

Zak is from Benson, NC was most recently the bass player with Constant Change. He’s been playing music since he was 7 years old and has been a bass player since a very young age, starting out his family’s group when he was 12. While he was still in high school, Zak was a member of New Vintage, a NC bluegrass band that won both the SPBGMA and Pizza Hut International Band competitions in 1992.

Kenny is quite high on this young man’s abilities:

“Zak is probably the most innovative bass player I’ve ever played with. He will be playing the normal bass line, and suddenly he’s working in a harmony to what Amanda is singing. He is a great addition to the band.”

The band’s latest CD, Always Never Enough has been generating considerable critical acclaim this past few weeks, being mentioned by The Chicago Tribune as one the Top Ten Bluegrass Recordings of 2005 and by The Washington Post as one of the Good CDs We Overlooked This Year.

See Kenny & Amanda’s schedule online for a chance to catch this exciting group in person.