Steve Hunter

Steve "The Deacon" Hunter was born in 1948 in Decatur, IL, starting his professional career as a member of Mitch Ryder's Detroit in 1971, his guitar sound redesigning the Lou Reed classic "Rock & Roll," creating a cult hit and giving Ryder an underground cachet that the '60s blue-eyed soul singer would utilize decades after the group's self-titled Paramount album, Detroit, was released. One of Hunter's earliest musical recollections was sitting on his dad's lap while his father worked the pedals on a pump organ owned by young Steve's grandparents, playing the keyboard and working out melodies the lad heard. This was before he went to kindergarten. Even at a young age he was able to note if tempos were off or if people were singing out of key. For Steve Hunter, music was always there, always a part of him -- a big old Zenith console radio/turntable would keep the future guitarist transfixed, the patterns on the labels he calls "sort of the first music video." At the age of 12 he discovered artists who began shaping his understanding and appreciation for the guitar. The Ventures and Chet Atkins had a huge influence on him, as did Duane Eddy, those influences changing as he got more into the instrument and as performers like Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton started making their appearances on the world stage. He learned several Ventures tunes as well as Duane Eddy's work, but it was the versatility of Chet Atkins and his distinctive style that amazed Hunter. "That became a very important thing to me. Also, I loved his touch on the guitar. The notes coming out of the guitar always sounded like velvet. I think he was the consummate musician." Hunter's first band that played in front of an audience was his high-school group called the Weejuns, the name...