Scott Thunes (pronounced "TOO-nis") (born January 20, 1960) is a

bass player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low br ...

, formerly with Frank Zappa, Wayne Kramer,

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, 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 transcriptionist f ...

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. He went on to record solo albums, musicals and wrote a novel. Life and career Prieboy was bor ...

Mike Keneally Michael Joseph Keneally (born December 20, 1961) is an American session guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and composer. Early years and musical influences Keneally started playing music at the age of 7 when he received an electric organ for h ...

Fear Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...

, Big Bang Beat, and others. Thunes was raised in

San Anselmo, California San Anselmo () is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. San Anselmo is located west of San Rafael, at an elevation of 46 feet (14 m). It is located about north of San Francisco. The town is bordered by San Rafael ...

. He played with Zappa's band from 1981 to 1988, and plays on such albums as '' The Man From Utopia'', ''

Them or Us ''Them or Us'' is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1984 by Barking Pumpkin Records. Album content Its opening and closing songs were not written by Zappa: "The Closer You Are", was written by Earl Lewis and Morgan ...

'', ''

Broadway the Hard Way ''Broadway the Hard Way '' is a live album by American musician Frank Zappa recorded at various performances along his 1988 world tour. It was first released as a 9-track vinyl album through Zappa's label Barking Pumpkin Records in October 1988, ...

'', '' You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore'', '' Does Humor Belong In Music?'', ''

The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life ''The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life'' is a double-disc live album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in 1991. The album was one of four to be recorded during the 1988 world tour, along with ''Broadway the Hard Way'', ''Make a J ...

'', ''

Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention ''Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention'' is a 1985 album by Frank Zappa. The album was originally released in two slightly different versions in the US and Europe. The album's title is a reference to the lobby group, the PMRC, who were c ...

'', ''

Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch ''Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch'' is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in May 1982 and digitally remastered in 1991. It features five tracks composed by Zappa, and one song, "Valley Girl", co-written with his da ...

'', ''

Make a Jazz Noise Here ''Make a Jazz Noise Here'' is a live double album by Frank Zappa. It was first released in June 1991, and was the third Zappa album to be compiled from recordings from his 1988 world tour, following ''Broadway the Hard Way'' (1988) and '' The Bes ...

'', and ''

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

'', 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 originally called the Gramophone Award ...

in 1988. More recently, he is touring on bass as part of ongoing The Zappa Band tribute group, made up of ex-Zappa band alumni Ray White (lead vocals, guitar),

(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, Canada ...

alums

Jamie Kime Jamie Kime is an American guitarist who has worked with Michelle Branch, Jewel, and as a member of the Zappa Plays Zappa world tour. Kime attended the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California, training under guitarists such as Peter Spr ...

(guitar) and ZAPPA archivist Joe “Vaultmeister” Travers (drums, vocals). Many of the 2021 TZB performances were opening for

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

References

External links

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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