Rusty Zinn
Encyclopedia
Rusty Zinn is an American
electric blues
and reggae
guitarist
and singer-songwriter
. Zinn released six albums between 1996 and 2009, on Black Top
, Alligator
, Bad Daddy, and 9 Above Records. He has worked with Mark Hummel
, Kim Wilson
, Larry Taylor
, and Sly Dunbar
.
, and was introduced to music via both his mother's and brother's record
collections. He bought blues recordings himself, intruiged by guitar players such as Robert Lockwood, Jr., Eddie Taylor
, and Jimmy Rogers
. Having practised the drum
s as a youngster, Zinn purchased his first guitar at the age of seventeen, and then witnessed Luther Tucker
perform in concert
with Rogers. Within twelve months, Tucker invited Zinn onstage and gave him some guitar playing advice. By the late 1980s, Zinn was playing in several Bay Area
bands, and had backed both Rogers and Snooky Pryor.
A spell in Mark Hummel
's backing band The Blues Survivors followed, and he later met Kim Wilson
at the 1992 San Francisco Blues Festival
. Subsequently, Zinn joined Wilson's band, alongside the former Canned Heat
bassist
, Larry Taylor
, and played on Wilson's 1993 album
Tigerman. He also toured, and played on Wilson's 1994 effort, That's Life.
In 1996, Zinn released his solo debut album, Sittin' & Waitin' , on Black Top Records, which saw Wilson act as both accompanist and record producer
. It earned Zinn a Blues Music Award nomination as 'Best New Blues Artist'. Confessin was issued by Zinn in 1999, and then The Chill (2000), featuring Elvin Bishop
on slide guitar
. Zinn's more recent issues included Zinfidelity, Vol. 1 (2005) and Reggaeblue (2007). The latter fused blues, reggae
and soul
stylings.
In 2009, Zinn released Manifestation, which was recorded in Jamaica
, and included contributions from Sly Dunbar
, Robbie Lynn, Boris Gardiner
and Scully Simms.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
electric blues
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. Zinn released six albums between 1996 and 2009, on Black Top
Black Top Records
Black Top Records was a New Orleans, Louisiana based independent record label founded in 1981 by brothers Nauman S. Scott, III and Hammond Scott. The label specialized in blues and R&B music. The first release was "Talk To You By Hand" by Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets...
, Alligator
Alligator Records
Alligator Records is a Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971.Iglauer started the label with his own savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record...
, Bad Daddy, and 9 Above Records. He has worked with Mark Hummel
Mark Hummel
Mark Hummel is an American blues harmonica player, vocalist, songwriter, and long-time bandleader of The Blues Survivors. Since 1991, Hummel has produced the Blues Harmonica Blowout tour, of which he is also a featured performer. The shows have featured blues harmonica players such as James...
, Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s; "Tuff Enuff", and "Wrap It Up."-Career:...
, Larry Taylor
Larry Taylor
Larry Taylor is an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Lewis...
, and Sly Dunbar
Sly Dunbar
Lowell "Sly" Fillmore Dunbar is a drummer.-Biography:Dunbar, whose nickname was reportedly given for his passion for Sly & the Family Stone, launched his musical career while still in his adolescence, playing with a local group, The Yardbrooms, at the age of fifteen...
.
Biography
Zinn was raised in Northern CaliforniaNorthern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
, and was introduced to music via both his mother's and brother's record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
collections. He bought blues recordings himself, intruiged by guitar players such as Robert Lockwood, Jr., Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.-Biography:Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, United States, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing at venues around Leland, Mississippi, where he taught his friend Jimmy Reed to...
, and Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
. Having practised the drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s as a youngster, Zinn purchased his first guitar at the age of seventeen, and then witnessed Luther Tucker
Luther Tucker
For the publisher see The Genesee FarmerLuther Tucker was an American blues guitarist.While soft spoken and shy, Tucker made his presence known through his unique and clearly recognizable guitar style. Tucker helped to define the music known as Chicago Blues, but played everything from blues to...
perform in concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
with Rogers. Within twelve months, Tucker invited Zinn onstage and gave him some guitar playing advice. By the late 1980s, Zinn was playing in several Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
bands, and had backed both Rogers and Snooky Pryor.
A spell in Mark Hummel
Mark Hummel
Mark Hummel is an American blues harmonica player, vocalist, songwriter, and long-time bandleader of The Blues Survivors. Since 1991, Hummel has produced the Blues Harmonica Blowout tour, of which he is also a featured performer. The shows have featured blues harmonica players such as James...
's backing band The Blues Survivors followed, and he later met Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s; "Tuff Enuff", and "Wrap It Up."-Career:...
at the 1992 San Francisco Blues Festival
San Francisco Blues Festival
Debuting in 1973, the San Francisco Blues Festival is the longest running blues festival in the United States. Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the blues festival to educate the public about the history and evolution of the blues...
. Subsequently, Zinn joined Wilson's band, alongside the former Canned Heat
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...
bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
, Larry Taylor
Larry Taylor
Larry Taylor is an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Lewis...
, and played on Wilson's 1993 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Tigerman. He also toured, and played on Wilson's 1994 effort, That's Life.
In 1996, Zinn released his solo debut album, Sittin' & Waitin' , on Black Top Records, which saw Wilson act as both accompanist and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. It earned Zinn a Blues Music Award nomination as 'Best New Blues Artist'. Confessin was issued by Zinn in 1999, and then The Chill (2000), featuring Elvin Bishop
Elvin Bishop
Elvin Bishop is an American blues and rock and roll musician and guitarist.-Career:Bishop was born in Glendale, California, and grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa. His family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was ten years old...
on slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
. Zinn's more recent issues included Zinfidelity, Vol. 1 (2005) and Reggaeblue (2007). The latter fused blues, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
stylings.
In 2009, Zinn released Manifestation, which was recorded in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, and included contributions from Sly Dunbar
Sly Dunbar
Lowell "Sly" Fillmore Dunbar is a drummer.-Biography:Dunbar, whose nickname was reportedly given for his passion for Sly & the Family Stone, launched his musical career while still in his adolescence, playing with a local group, The Yardbrooms, at the age of fifteen...
, Robbie Lynn, Boris Gardiner
Boris Gardiner
Boris Gardiner is a Jamaican singer, songwriter and bass guitarist.-Career:Gardiner performed on the tourist circuit for much of the 1960s and was a member of Carlos Malcolm & the Afro Caribs and Byron Lee's Dragonaires...
and Scully Simms.
Discography
| Album title | Record label | Year of release |
|---|---|---|
| Sitting' & Waiting | Black Top Records Black Top Records Black Top Records was a New Orleans, Louisiana based independent record label founded in 1981 by brothers Nauman S. Scott, III and Hammond Scott. The label specialized in blues and R&B music. The first release was "Talk To You By Hand" by Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets... |
1996 |
| Confessin | Black Top Records | 1999 |
| The Chill | Alligator Records Alligator Records Alligator Records is a Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971.Iglauer started the label with his own savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record... |
2000 |
| Zinfidelity, Vol. 1 | Bad Daddy Records | 2005 |
| Reggaeblue | Bad Daddy Records | 2007 |
| Manifestation | 9 Above Records | 2009 |