Scott Thunes ( ; born January 20, 1960) is a bass player, formerly with

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

Wayne Kramer Wayne Stanley Kramer (''né'' Kambes; April 30, 1948 – February 2, 2024) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, and Film score, film and television composer. Kramer came to prominence in the 1960s as the lead guitarist of t ...

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

Andy Prieboy Andy Prieboy (born April 17, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and author. He was lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo from 1983 to 1988. Later, he produced solo albums, musicals, and a novel. Life and career Prieboy was born in Los ...

, Mike Keneally,

Fear Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a rock band formed in 1983 by Scottish musician and songwriter Mike Scott (Scottish musician), Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Britain and Ireland, with Scott re ...

, Big Bang Beat, and others.

Early life

Thunes was raised in San Anselmo, California.

Career

He played with Zappa's band from 1981 to 1988, joining at the age of 21, and plays on such albums as ''

The Man From Utopia ''The Man from Utopia'' is the 36th album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1983 by Barking Pumpkin Records. The album is named after a 1950s song, written by Donald and Doris Woods, which Zappa covers as part of "The Man fro ...

'', '' Them or Us'', '' Broadway the Hard Way'', '' You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore'', '' Does Humor Belong In Music?'', '' The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life'', '' Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention'', '' Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch'', '' Make a Jazz Noise Here'', and ''

Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

'', a double-album compilation of Zappa's live guitar solos. His most prominent bass performance can be heard on Frank Zappa's ''Valley Girl'', which peaked at #32 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He played bass on Frank Zappa's '' Jazz from Hell'', which won a

Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958, and ended after the 2011 award, and or ...

in 1988. More recently, he is touring on bass as part of ongoing The Zappa Band tribute group, Banned from Utopia, made up of ex-Zappa band alumni

Ray White Ray Shirley White Sr. is an African Americans, African American soul music, soul vocalist and rock and blues guitarist, best known as a member of Frank Zappa's touring ensembles. He was drafted into Zappa's band in late 1976, being feature ...

(lead vocals, guitar), Mike Keneally (guitar, keys, vocals), Robert 'Bobby' Martin (keyboards, sax, vocals), and

Zappa Plays Zappa Zappa Plays Zappa is an American tribute act led by Dweezil Zappa, the elder son of late American composer and musician Frank Zappa, devoted to performing the music of Frank Zappa. History The band debuted in 2006 with shows in Europe, Cana ...

alums Jamie Kime (guitar) and ZAPPA archivist Joe “Vaultmeister” Travers (drums, vocals). In 2021, The Zappa Band tribute group opened for

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

multiple times. Thunes is currently a Teaching Artist, for the Rock Band program at Marin School of the Arts at Novato High School in Novato, California.

References

External links

Interview

Scott Thunes with the San Francisco Free Jazz Collective
Living people American punk rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Fear (band) members The Waterboys members 1960 births People from San Anselmo, California Guitarists from Los Angeles 20th-century American guitarists Zappa Plays Zappa members {{US-bass-guitarist-stub