Zach Zunis is a wrongly overlooked member of The Red Devils during their heyday. As Paul Size was leaving the band in the summer of 1993, Lester Butler reached out to Zunis, a former member of William Clarke‘s formidable blues band, to be the next lead guitar player for the Devils.
Zunis recorded on the band’s aborted second album (released in part on the “Blackwater Roll” EP). And for many overseas who caught the Devils in the latter part of ’93, Zach Zunis is the Red Devils guitar player.
Today, Zunis has been the long-time guitar player for blues/soul/Americana singer Janiva Magness, as well as a member of the NYC-based Big Apple Blues.
NoFightin.com caught up with Zunis for a phone interview in August, covering a large swath of his career. The story is best told by Zunis, and so we present it here, in his own words, with slight editing for clarity and continuity.
Hollywood, late ’80s
Zunis joined the William Clarke Band around 1988. Lester Butler was a frequent audience member at those Clarke gigs.
“Lester used to come down to see us … quite often, right? And he’d come in and see Bill (Clarke), ’cause he was really a fan of Bill. I mean, he knew Bill was the real deal, he really did. And he would come down and hang out and stuff. I could just see him out the corner of my eye. There he is, he’s here again, seeing Clarke! But this is like … I think it was The Blue Shadows, when Smokey (Hormel) was playing guitar.“
Beginning in 1988, the King King club in Hollywood was the place to be, for The Blue Shadows, the William Clarke Band and many others. A scene developed.
“The King King was kind of, you know, it kind of was like a hipster kind of hang. Celebrities would come there, and I know Flea came from the Red Hot Chili Peppers would come a lot and see us. And well, he came to see when I was playing with Hook (Herrera) too. … we did a night in on Sunset Boulevard at a place called the Sunset Social Club.
“And a lot of celebrities came to that too. … Hook, you know, was buddies with Lester and everybody was kind of friends. We had a bit of a clique … it wasn’t real traditional blues anymore. It was more like … I don’t wanna say thrasher blues, but like, you know, like just loud, you know, loud! And we had that edge. … And, you know, it was a little more metallic, I guess. …
“(King King) was a club that I, that Clarke we played there quite often actually, you know, and yeah, it was a really cool place. The sound was weird, but for some reason it worked, you know? So yeah, those years, it’s kind of a blur because I was in and out.”
Ready for Devils
After he left the Clarke band around 1991, Zunis performed with several different acts around California. He ended up backing Latelle Barton — Little Walter’s cousin — at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon, on July 4, 1993. The Red Devils were on the bill as well.
“So I remember those years and, you know, Lester and I, we didn’t really hang out that much or anything, but I remember when I saw them at (Waterfront) … we were on the same festival, but I saw Lester and he started kind of intimating to me that … Paul wanted to go home. He was a young guy, you know, all this. … it was a lot to take, you know what I mean?
“It was a big successful band and all that. But I guess it was a little too much at that point. But, you know, that’s what started kind of feeling it out and saying, ‘Hey man, you know, what are you up to?’ And all that.”
The Red Devils had a volatile chemistry, onstage and off.
“I was ready to do The Red Devil thing. I thought that that was the next step, you know, a smart move careerwise. But not only that, I love Lester, man. I love the way he played. And Bateman was a badass. I mean, Lester would always complain … he goes, ‘man, you was slowing down. He’s speeding up, man.’ He would record every show. …
“Bateman had his own style and was so cool. Bateman plays his ass off, man. He has his own thing. And so if he slows down and speeds up, who gives a fuck?
“It gelled so well, you know, with that, with Jonny Ray and his brother. It was a weird kind of mix, but it worked. It really worked.”
Meanwhile, Zunis waited for the promised call.
“For me, I had just met my now wife. And I moved in with her in Venice. And I said, ‘OK, I’ve gotta just sit here and I’ve gotta (wood)shed all this music.’ Because Lester kept telling me, man, he goes, ‘OK, Zach, you ready, man? I’m gonna call you. OK? It’s gonna be like, I’m gonna call you and you’re gonna have to show up in like, within the hour!’ I said, OK. And this went on for weeks.
“And I’m like, man, what’s going on? So I finally get the call. I mean, I’m shedding, shedding, shedding, I mean, just learning everything I can learn, just trying to just get as polished as I can get. Which I don’t know if it was the right thing!”
Into the fire
After Size left, The Red Devils again needed a guitar player — and fast. They had to tour, and had commitments to some of their famous friends, as well.
“So I think the first … they called me up to do to rehearse with the Devils and Bruce Willis, because Willis was going to Japan to do some kind of movie opening or something. And they wanted to do like a, you know, have music and, and have us back him up, I guess.
“So we did a rehearsal at some big rehearsal studio, and it went well. And then we went to Japan together. And it was a gas, man. It was crazy. It was absolutely off the charts. It was a lot of fun. And we got back and then, and then Willis rented out … Six Flags (amusement park)! Yeah. He rented it out for his wife, his wife at the time was Demi Moore. He rented it out for a birthday. …
“This thing, I mean, it was like a frigging red carpet frigging night. You wouldn’t believe who was there. Yeah. Jack Nicholson. Wow. Tom Cruise, Stallone. … the whole park was like, desolate. And we were like the only people there, you know? It was weird. … I don’t know. It was just strange as hell.”
The Man in Black
A career highlight came on Sept. 6, 1993, when Zach Zunis and The Red Devils would come face-to-face with an American legend.
“I got the call and I rushed to Ocean Way, man, the studio, the famous freaking studio. Yeah. And I gotta tell you … I walk into the studio, and I’m hearing this like ominous voice … Like, I’m hearing Johnny Cash now. I’m like, who’s playing Johnny Cash? Like, is there like, somebody like playing a record? A Johnny Cash record? And I walk in and it’s him and Smokey (Hormel) playing guitar behind him. … I no idea that (Rick) Rubin had just signed him … that was the first series of the American Recordings, you know?
“Anyway, man. We did our thing and then we took a break and Johnny and June Carter were in the green room, and they were like, we met them. And they were the nicest people to us. It was unbelievable. … that was something I’ll never forget. That’s a memory that will live with me forever, man. Meeting Johnny Cash and June Carter there, at Ocean Way.
“Soon after that recording, everything fell apart, the band broke up. You know, it was just a big disaster. But anyway, I have some roughs (rough mixes) from that session. Crazy to hear it, you know, some of that stuff.”
‘Blackwater Roll’
In his book The Greatest Music Never Sold, author Dan Leroy said that, immediately following the Cash sessions, the band recorded what would have been their sophomore album. “Blackwater Roll,” “She’s Dynamite” and “Louisiana Blues” were recorded, Leroy said. The recording of that EP continues to be a mystery.
“Yeah, that was actually done, that wasn’t at Ocean Way, I don’t think. Smokey actually recorded us. … Yeah, at his studio. I know that we did ‘Blackwater Roll’ with Smokey at his studio.
Two of the songs on the “Blackwater Roll” EP — “The Backstreet Crawler” and “The Hook” — are purported to have been recorded live at “Smokey Joe’s, Greensboro, Alabama.” Could “Smokey Joe’s” be a tongue-in-cheek reference to Hormel’s studio, with live crowd overdubbed?
“OK. I remember that. Vaguely remember that. But the other two cuts could have been from a live thing. I just don’t know. I can’t really remember. … it would make sense. (Hormel) probably had to do it that way, I think, because I think Lester might’ve still been … There could’ve been some contractual stuff happening. I just don’t know.”
The end
Zunis was an eyewitness to the end of that era’s Red Devils. He would occasionally play with Butler onstage, and they would appear on several recordings together (notably with Billy Boy Arnold and King Ernest).
“Outta control, man … The end was coming. I knew that. I mean, that was like, there’s no way we can keep this going. … I was a mess, you know, and Lester was in and out … he’d have, you know, like streaks of sobriety and then go out again. And that‘s really dangerous.
“And then, you know, finally that happened. I was, I was crushed, man, when I heard that. Couldn’t believe it. You know, Rick (Holmstrom, ex-Clarke guitarist), Rick told me, called me on that one, and Rick called me, I think for King Ernest too. Because I was in New York. And he was there.”
Remembering Lester
Zunis recalls Butler as being a true original artist, in the realm of William Clarke and other blues greats.
“Because I love Lester, man. I loved the way he played. I loved, I loved his humor. I just liked the guy. He was a really likable guy. I know he had a lot of demons. So did I. That’s probably why we kind of got together. … You know, we did some stupid shit, too. Very stupid shit. I mean, we get high together and it was not good. …
“Lester was like super smart. He was really intelligent. He had a high IQ. And his sense of humor, I thought was brilliant. … he used to say, ‘man, I’m really good at writing oriffginals.’ That was funny. So it’s true, because, you know, you just write lyrics over like a Howlin’ Wolf progression or a song or whatever. They were great, man.
“He was fantastic. He, his harmonic playing was kind of to me anyway, kind of parallel to Clarke’s thing … he would play lines, like he would play like a sax player, like Clarke would do. Clarke would treat it like it was an orchestra, basically. Like, kind of like, what (Little) Walter, you know, I think what Walter tried to do, too, you know, was like, make it more of like an ensemble. An orchestra, not just a harp player blowing over everything. It was like he played, he would play lines, like, and, and repeat them, you know? …
“But you could really hear that, you could hear the phrasing of more of a sax or … wind instrument. And Lester kind of caught that too, you know, I think from listening to Clarke, possibly. But, you know, Lester was really deep into that stuff too, man. He, he, he kind of really just dove deeply into blues and, and extracted what, you know, the real essence of it. And like, it came out in, in his own kind of way.”
Today
After Butler’s death, Zunis took part in the Lester Butler Tribute Band (and on the recording “So Lowdown Tour 2002”). He is joining with Big Pete and an all-star lineup for a Butler tribute this November 2023 in The Netherlands.
“I love Big Pete. We’re buddies. And as a matter of fact, we’re doing a show in November in The Netherlands. Me and Alex (Schultz) and Mike Hightower and Johnny Morgan. …That guy on his own … he sings great. He blows. He really plays harmonica amazing. I mean, he plays really well. Yeah. He loves Lester. He loves the whole vibe of and, and all that, and the Devils and stuff. So he’s a perfect guy to have had back then in 2017. He sent me some video of that ’cause … I got him to do a show. My daughter put together a Planned Parenthood fundraiser in the Hamptons, and I flew Pete over to do a show. We got some guys to play. It was a lot of fun, man. That started our relationship. And now, you know, we’re doing some stuff. … We did the Edmonton Blues Festival … Oh man. We had a blast!
Top photo: Zach Zunis and Janiva Magness perform at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis in this May 7, 2022, photo. Credit: Tina Hanagan for NoFightin.com
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