In March, Original Soul Project guitarist Jason Zarecky was excited. His band had just finished recording new material and looked forward to bringing it to life at their weekly gig at Zeno's.

He never got that chance.

Days later, Zarecky's life was taken when he died from an unexpected asthma attack -- in his sleep.

"I don't know whether I can put into words how I feel really. It wasn't really that long ago," said O.S.P. organist Mark Daubert. "I've been playing with Jason for seven or eight years -- five or six with this band."

Drummer Daryl Branford continued where Daubert trailed off into somber silence.

"I was shocked -- disbeliefed really," Branford said.

Zarecky's sudden death prompted O.S.P. to pull from the regular Friday night slot at Zeno's, 100 W. College Ave. Fans soon learned what happened, and like Daubert and Branford, felt an awkward combination of grief and anticipation for the next O.S.P. show.

"People kept coming up to us asking, 'When are you coming back Zeno's?'" Branford said. "It's been such an accepted fact that you come to Zeno's on Friday night, O.S.P. is going to be there."

With Zarecky's departure, O.S.P. had a few routes to take in their attempt to move forward. For them, Zarecky's departure was not just the loss of a close friend but also a loss of a major part of themselves.

Breaking up was discussed, but ultimately the band decided to stay together, continuing its drive for imaginative and open-ended music. The hard part, however, was finding someone to replace the void Zarecky left, standing in his usual place next to vocalist Kim Asbury.

"Off the top of our heads, there're only two or three people we could think of because Jason had such a unique sound, unique to O.S.P.," Branford said. "There's just a few things that have to fall into place before you can say, 'This is the future of O.S.P.'"

The first step was looking.

"We needed someone with a new musicality that's going to add to an original sound," Daubert said.

Second was auditioning, third was choosing. But just because the new guitarist is set to play does not mean that the learning process has ended.

"He has to learn the songs, get a feel for the songs, but then he has to get a feel for the show," Daubert said. "Then he has to learn to read all our minds."

This may be especially difficult given O.S.P.'s pattern of changing songs around between shows. In addition, Zarecky was very proud of his work on the new album -- making his empty shoes much bigger to fill and tie.

"We can rehearse all we want but it'll take some time for the new player to become comfortable and push it forward," Daubert said.

O.S.P. will not reveal the identity of the guitarist until tonight's showtime at 10:30 at Zeno's. But clues were given when Branford occasionally referred to the mystery person as a "he."

To get a sneak peak at new material with Zarecky's last work with O.S.P., the band has six tracks posted on a special memorial page on their Web site, www.originalsoulproject.com. But O.S.P. warned that the recorded music will take on a different life when a restructured band chips away at songs recorded by an unforgettable friend.

"We're really looking forward to going back to Zeno's and working in the new guitarist through that show," Daubert said.