Ché Zuro / Che Zuro

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Che Zuro was raised in Pittsburgh, PA, in a musical household. She learned her craft and honed her vocal skills with her family, whether traveling with her parents or at sing-alongs around the organ. As a child, she took organ lessons at an early age, and picked up the guitar — a gift from her parents — when she was nine. In junior high, Zuro joined a rock band as a guitarist, and after a few years began playing with Misfoundry, with whom she cut her first demo. From there, she spent a dozen years playing and recording with bands in the SoCal music scene. Zuro's time included stints with Backstage Pass and the Kim Fowley-founded, all-female band the Orchids in the late '70s and with the Photos and the Josie Cotton Band in the early '80s. Soon after, she began playing with Population 5, which also featured the Knack's Prescott Miles, Guns 'N' Roses' Matt Sorum and Kingdom Come's Frank and Danny Stage. After late '80s collaborations with Phil Seymour and Puss N' Boots, in 1989 Zuro joined Charlie Sexton's band for a tour of America and Japan that resulted in the Japanese live EP King Elvis. After the tour, Zuro formed her own band Trinity Street, which began her long-running collaboration with songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tisa Adamson. After Trinity Street disbanded, Zuro and Adamson continued playing as an acoustic duo. Ultimately, Zuro went solo, and her 1997 debut 10,000 Jalama Road featured her on all vocals, instruments, production and art direction. Three years later, her second album Welcome Home arrived on Youghiogheny River Records and featured co-production by Bernie Larsen as well as collaborations with Brie Howard-Darling and Jorge Calderon. Zuro reunited with Adamson for 2002's Soak and 2005's Snack, while also releasing the solo albums Orphans (2004) and Walking Toward the Sun (2008). In 2014, she released a country-tinged version of her song "Emmaline," which was previously featured on the GoGirls Music Fest 2012 compilation.