Miles Zuniga

Guitarist, songwriter, and singer Miles Zuniga enjoyed a fling with fame in the 1990s as a member of the band <a href="spotify:artist:7FtVJzRtpQpU61nBwB7cKN">Fastball</a> before dividing his time between several bands and a solo career. Zuniga was born in Laredo, Texas on September 10, 1966. Years later, he relocated to Austin, Texas in hopes of making a name for himself on the city's music scene, and for several years he played in a variety of bands, including a combo called Big Car. In 1994, Zuniga and Big Car drummer Joe Shuffield launched a new group with singer, bassist, and keyboardist Tony Scalzo; the band went through a variety of names before deciding on "Magneto USA", and they developed a loyal following in Austin that led to a journalist referring them to an A&R executive at <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hollywood+Records%22">Hollywood Records</a>, who signed them to a record deal. Before cutting their first album, "Magneto USA" changed their name to <a href="spotify:artist:7FtVJzRtpQpU61nBwB7cKN">Fastball</a> (the title was borrowed from a baseball-themed porn movie), and while the group's 1996 debut album, Make Your Mama Proud, was a commercial disappointment, <a href="spotify:artist:7FtVJzRtpQpU61nBwB7cKN">Fastball</a>'s second album, All the Pain Money Can Buy, became a hit on the strength of the hit singles "The Way" and "Out of My Head," and earned the trio a platinum record. Plenty of touring followed, as did a pair of Grammy nominations, but <a href="spotify:artist:7FtVJzRtpQpU61nBwB7cKN">Fastball</a>'s third album, 2000's The Harsh Light of Day, was a commercial disappointment despite strong reviews. <a href="spotify:artist:7FtVJzRtpQpU61nBwB7cKN">Fastball</a> parted ways with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hollywood+Records%22">Hollywood Records</a> after the release of the compilation Painting the Corners: The Best of Fastball, and their next album, 2004's Keep Your Wig On, was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rykodisc%22">Rykodisc</a>. After touring behind Keep Your Wig On, <a href="spotify:artist:7FtVJzRtpQpU61nBwB7cKN">Fastball</a> went on hiatus; Zuniga focused on songwriting, collaborating with members of <a href="spotify:artist:7siPLyFwRFYQkKgWKJ5Sod">the Dandy Warhols</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0K1q0nXQ8is36PzOKAMbNe">Spoon</a>, as well as composing material on his own, and he formed a band with occasional <a href="spotify:artist:7FtVJzRtpQpU61nBwB7cKN">Fastball</a> collaborator Jeff Groves called the Small Stars. A tongue-in-cheek lounge rock outfit Zuniga described as a cross between <a href="spotify:artist:6ysQi6NI88X627t2srsWz6">Mott the Hoople</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Frank Sinatra</a>, the Small Stars grew from a jokey once-a-week live act (with Zuniga taking the stage name "Guy Fantasy") into a proper band that recorded two albums, 2005's The Small Stars and 2007's Tijuana Dreams. In 2008, <a href="spotify:artist:7FtVJzRtpQpU61nBwB7cKN">Fastball</a> re-formed and began work on a new album; Little White Lies was released in the spring of 2009, and the band toured heavily in support. After returning to Austin, Zuniga launched another side project, the Resentments, with talented local players John Chipman, <a href="spotify:artist:2TxY3zdN21w3cceDNZ3m9F">Bruce Hughes</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:40WX9y6dtkBfO6GzctaNL2">Jud Newcomb</a>. Playing Austin's Saxon Pub every Sunday night, Zuniga used the Resentments shows as a showcase to fine-tune new songs; after going through a painful divorce, he began writing a cycle of songs about a failing relationship, and the new tunes grew into his first solo album, These Ghosts Have Bones. Raising the recording budget through a Kickstarter campaign, Zuniga released These Ghosts Have Bones (which he described as "a record/therapy session") in the fall of 2011, with Chipman and <a href="spotify:artist:2TxY3zdN21w3cceDNZ3m9F">Hughes</a> of the Resentments anchoring the backing band. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi