Zao canceled their appearance at the Stand Together Fest in Nashville, TN this weekend as well as Sunday's show in Morgantown, WV. The band explains in a Facebook posting:"We don't play a lot. We have known about our show at Stand Together Fest in Nashville since last fall and have been arranging the logicists or getting us there and trying to do more shows around it. We wanted to do MORE shows around it. Unfortunately, after everything was set (Van booked. Transport for the out of state members arranged. Set list decided.) we hit a major snag.
"Without going into TOO many details, we have a personal health emergency in the band. That is all we are going to say on the matter. Nobody is dying, but it is serious enough that it became very clear, very quickly that the show could NOT happen. As much as we want to play, it was not worth putting that pressure on the induvidual or the band as a whole.
"We hoped it would get better and set a very concrete deadline to see if it could still happen, sadly, that deadline has passed and it will not be doable.
"We apologize to the people that went out of their way to make these shows happen both on our end personally and the promoters. We don't play often, so having to cancel the only two shows we had booked for 2012 to this point has weight to it that is not lost on us. The bottom line, if we would have attempted to play these shows regardless and this issue came to a head, it WOULD have effectively killed the band.
"Stand Together Fest is still happening. The guys setting it up have gone through a lot, and put a lot on the line to have us come play. I'm sure many of you are still planning on going, and you should. They worked really hard to make this show happen and hope to make it an annual event.
"We have not heard back from 123 Pleasant street yet, but I would assume that show will still happen with the locals that were on the bill. Again, any venue that gives locals a voice is one you should support. So, go support the locals and keep music alive.
"We are sorry that this and any plans for the immediate future are currently on hold until we feel comfortable moving on. Thank you for your continued support, and once this is situated on our end, we will do our best to get out on the pavement again as much as possible."