Exactly 11 years ago, Miles Zuniga was jetting off to Amsterdam with his Austin-based alt-rock outfit Fastball to try to put some touring muscle behind its latest release, The Harsh Light Of Day. Expectations were high, given the surprising mainstream success of 1998’s All The Pain Money Can Buy, which the band milked for almost two years. Fast-forward to today, and Zuniga has humbler aspirations for his first solo effort, These Ghosts Have Bones (33 1/3), a wrenchingly personal, fitfully melodic ode to the breakup of his 10-year marriage. Though Fastball is still very much a working entity, Ghosts’ quirky centerpiece, “Marfa Moonlight,” would’ve undoubtedly been a much different animal with bandmates Tony Scalzo and Joey Shuffield involved. The same goes for the rest of this inward-looking song cycle. Zuniga will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Zuniga: I forget when I first saw Redd Volkaert play. It was in Austin, probably at the Continental Club or Ego’s, but I do remember that my jaw dropped and it took me a while to get it back off the floor. This guy with the Popeye arms and sausage fingers plays guitar like you wouldn’t believe. He’s real unassuming and he just kinda stands there, but meanwhile he is rearranging the atoms in the room with his guitar playing. He’ll go for these crazy runs where you think, “Oh, he’s fucked now, that had to be a mistake,” and then he’ll play something at the tail end that inexplicably makes perfect sense. In a town full of great guitar players, Redd is the greatest. If you’re ever in Austin and see his name, check him out. You won’t regret it.
Video after the jump.
