Rico." It was also at the Terminal Bar where the lineup was solidified, with Chip House, Andrew Eklund, and Nathan Eklund all leaving the band to pursue professional careers. At the time the Big Wu was looking for a keyboardist and bass guitar player. Andy Miller, also a St. Olaf College graduate, got the job playing bass, and several months later, Al Oikari sat in on keys and eventually became a member of the band. At the end of 1996, the Big Wu got the job as the house band at the legendary Cabooze Bar in Minneapolis. Wednesday night became a regular night out for what became known as the "Wu Family", who served as the test market for new songs as the band reshaped their shows around original music and playful lyrics. On September 12, 1997, Tracking Buffalo Through the Bathtub, the Big Wu's debut CD was released. Though a CD release party was held at the Cabooze, the CD itself did not arrive at the show due to shipping problems, and the album wasn't available for purchase until the following week. Similar gaffes and logistical ironies would plague the band over the next several years, prompting a gentle self-mockery that became a staple of the band's onstage humor. On July 17, 1998, the Big Wu hosted the first ever Big Wu Family Reunion at Latch Lake Studios in Eagan, Minnesota – the local studio where Tracking Buffalo Through the Bathtub had been recorded the year before. The next year, the Family Reunion was held at Harmony Park Music Garden in Geneva, Minnesota, and the event would be held at either Harmony Park or the Jamboree Campground in Black River Falls, Wisconsin thereafter. The Family Reunion drew thousands of concert-goers each year during the early 2000s, and the festival served to introduce the Midwest to a number of jam bands that would later find a national audience. Short tours throughout the Midwest and periodic gigs in Colorado led the Big Wu to hit the road full-time in 1999, and they would average 150–200 shows a year for the next several years. On October 17, 2000, the band released their second album Folktales on a small jam band oriented record label out of New York called Phoenix Rising Records. The album enjoyed a good ride, but was quickly forced into the abyss when Phoenix filed for bankruptcy a little over