Today we’d like to introduce you to Ché Zuro.
Hi Ché, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Ché Zuro, transplanted Utahn, mixes Beatle-ina pop with the acoustic grit of Led Zeppelin, mixing rock with folk, pop with country, shaking up a sound all of her own. With an angelic voice and rock star guitar chops, Ché brings the audience a joyous musical roller coaster ride at every show. Regardless of the size of the venue, she gives the listener something to ponder with her songs about love, fun, break up and even death, in a way that is easy to hear, familiar, and touches the soul.
This seasoned performer who has toured and/or recorded with Josie Cotton Band, Berlin, Carmine Appice, Charlie Sexton and more has seven solo and duo (2) (Zuro/Adamson) recordings, but performs mostly solo. Some of her better known bands are Backstage Pass (77-79), The Orchids (79-81) and Puss N Boots (86-88) before her band Trinity Street was formed with Tisa Adamson. Tisa and Ché ended up working as an acoustic duo for years, writing many songs together, when gigs for bands started to disappear in the Los Angeles area.
A Pittsburgh native, Ché’s writing includes tunes about where she grew up, where she has traveled and where she is presently parked, as well as about the people she has met, even ever so briefly. Other people’s stories are something she writes about in first person, which become personal to her audience. Some of these songs have won awards in both the Billboard Songwriting and the John Lennon Songwriting contests, and she continues to write.
Live performances have taken her from the stages of the Durango Summer Festival, The Millpond Music Festival and Mammoth Mountain Ski resort to Snowbird, Powder Mountain, Grand Targhee Resorts and across the country to Scenic Pittsburgh, Ohiopyle PA State Park’s Music in The Mountains Fest and Scranton’s First Night as well as opening for pal Don Felder of the Eagles at a charity event in Tampa, FL. With her past bands, she has played in Europe, Japan, French Polynesia, and all over the USA. Lately, she plays mostly in the northern Utah area, including Idaho, as well as in Pennsylvania in and around her hometown of Pittsburgh.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As a female musician, I experienced a lot of the typical stories you would hear from young starlets in Hollywood. Producers and record company people would expect “favors” in return for a record deal or publishing deal. I always stood my ground and kept my morals when this would happen.
Even as an older, seasoned, professional musician, when I moved to Utah, I was not taken seriously by a lot of male musicians as well as guitar techs in the area. So I worked hard on finding places to play, do a great job so they would hire me back, and forged my own niche of music in the area.
Being self employed can also be tough. My last years in Los Angeles, I worked in the fashion industry part time as a fit model, so was able to make enough money to support my music jones. Playing out in the L.A. area did not bring me any kind of good income, but the gigs all outside L.A. County ended up being more lucrative. Moving to Utah brought me a dilemma: not having another means of income. Fortunately I had a wonderful, supportive husband who just wanted me to play and get more gigs.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Most people would call me a singer/songwriter, some would say folk, some would say rock, and I just say acoustic rock. As a solo artist I can play to any kind of audience, since I have a huge repertoire of tunes. Usually I will play some cover tunes, usually from the 70s like Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Eagles, etc., and also play a lot of originals. If a place wants only originals, I can accommodate that. It’s nice to be able to be flexible, playing to a quiet dinner crowd one night, and the next to a rowdy crew of bikers!
I am proud to be well past retirement age and STILL DOING IT! Playing music brings me joy. If I don’t play for a couple of weeks, I start to get depressed (unless I am on a vacation!). Many of my rock and roll friends from the 70s and 80s are not playing anymore, maybe just have an instrument at home, or just don’t feel like dealing with the ups and downs of doing everything yourself: writing, arranging, booking, collecting $, keeping your gear in good working order, etc.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I saw The Rolling Stones on the Ed Sullivan Show (I told you I was old!) and decided that I NEEDED to be like Keith Richards (he had big ears too, like me!), and my parents did not say NO. At the time I was taking organ lessons, and the shop had this beautiful Gibson Epiphone electric guitar that I fell in love with and asked my parents for it. They said NO to that.
One day before Christmas, I saw a sold sign hanging from that guitar and was so dramatic about “Someone is getting MY guitar!” I would walk by and put my head down like it was the end of the world.
Christmas morning I opened all of my gifts with my folks, and they said “Wait! There is another gift! Where did we put it?” And they made me go find this giant box that was hidden….. I dragged it out, still had NO IDEA what this giant box could have inside….. and when I opened it, it was that beloved guitar from the music store. I still have it and the original case which is falling apart.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://checheche.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chezuro
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CheZuroMusic/
- Other: https://chezuro.bandcamp.com
