Frank Zappa

Latest about Frank Zappa

Conrad St. Clair onstage with The Furious Bongos
How Conrad St. Clair went from Juilliard-trained flautist to playing fretless 6-string bass with a Frank Zappa tribute band

By Nick Wells Published

The Furious Bongos’ Conrad St. Clair explores the musicianship, chemistry and creative thinking behind Frank Zappa’s music

Bassists
Session bassist Lee Sklar pictured with his Fender Lee Sklar Precision Bass
Lee Sklar looks back on his early sessions with James Taylor and Jackson Browne – and the beginnings of a legendary studio career

By Brian Fox Published

The session bass icon has gone to work with artists as varied as Billy Cobham, Lyle Lovett, Phil Collins and Toto

Bassists
Canada's experimental rock band "Angine de Poitrine" guitarist Khn de Poitrine performs during a concert part of the Nuits Botanique music festival in Brussels on May 28, 2026
How Angine de Poitrine’s eccentric guitar teacher shaped their oddball sound

By Phil Weller Published

The “highly strung” Frank Zappa nut was an imposing figure, but a guitar hero in his students’ eyes

Guitarists
Left–Adrian Belew, David Bowie, Vorst Natonaal, Brussels, Belgium, 11/06/1978; Right–Adrian Belew performs with 'David Bowie' at the Fresno Convention Center in Fresno, California on April 2, 1978
Adrian Belew on how he went from playing with Frank Zappa to joining David Bowie's band

By Janelle Borg Published

Belew would serve as Bowie’s lead guitarist between 1978 and 1979, before returning as his musical director in 1990

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Guitarists
Bob Dylan performs at Farm Aid at the Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana on September 23, 2023
“Rock ’n’ roll is full of borderline despots”: Why does Bob Dylan get through so many guitarists?

By Henry Yates Published

Fret Buzz The rock icon has had no shortage of brilliant players lining up to follow him in the jingle jangle morning, but lately they’re dropping like flies

Fret Buzz
Singer/Songwriter Frank Zappa performs at The Fox Theater in Atlanta.
The notorious final tour of the Zappa band, and his bassist’s role in its demise

By Nick Wells Published

Though many regard the 1988 lineup as one of Zappa’s most musically formidable bands, the tour ended in disaster, with Zappa returning home, never to tour again

Bassists
Frank Zappa performs on stage with band members (L-R) Denny Walley, Ike Willis, Arthur Barrow (back to camera) and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta at The Knebworth Festival on September 9th, 1978
Ike Willis, long-term guitarist and vocalist with Frank Zappa, dies aged 70

By Janelle Borg Published

Willis was part of Zappa’s bands and projects for a decade, and aside from his role as a guitarist, he voiced the protagonist in Zappa opus Joe’s Garage

Guitarists
Long exposure of a musician adjusting dials on a pair of Musitronics Mu-Tron III effects pedals and Moogerfooger analog effects modules, taken on October 30, 2013
Loved by Frank Zappa, Bootsy Collins, Steve Vai and more, how the Mu-Tron III became a vintage pedalboard icon

By Chris Gill Published

Mike Beigel's groundbreaking envelope filter made the world a funkier place

Guitar Pedals
Frank Zappa and Mike Keneally
How Mike Keneally landed the Frank Zappa gig – after cold-calling his guitar hero

By Phil Weller Published

Keneally said he had a “Zappa jukebox” in his brain. The man himself wanted to test it out

Guitarists
Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa’s ‘Baby Snakes’ SG is heading to auction for the first time – and expected to sell for half a million dollars

By Phil Weller Published

The heavily modified SG copy was bought for $500 and became one of his most well-known guitars

Electric Guitars
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