The name David Zychek is likely not a familiar one to the world at large. For denizens of the Central Texas music scene, however—especially those who were around from the seventies to the nineties and even beyond—Zychek is synonymous with raucous electric guitar. And though the rock and roll hero died a mostly unsung legend of the genre eight years ago at the age of 64, a new documentary film by two fellow Wacoans aims to ensure that his legacy will live on.
Z: The Story of Zychek, by Anna and Troy Shaw, offers a celebration of Zychek’s life by shining a deserving spotlight on the virtuosic talents he possessed with the guitar, but also by giving a nod to his lasting impact on the local music scene in and around Waco, where he was as well-thought-of as he was revered. The film, though, goes a bit deeper by delving into the age-old question of how success is measured in the realm of artistic pursuits.
Anna Shaw, a native of France who attended graduate school at Baylor University in the early aughts, was introduced to Zychek by her husband, codirector, and coproducer Troy Shaw, whom she’d met in Waco and is himself a musician.
From the more than thirty hours of interviews that the pair conducted with bandmates, collaborators, and family members, there are honest and poignant onscreen contributions from music producer Beau Hill (Alice Cooper, Kix, Winger, Warrant, Ratt); Vic Johnson, a guitarist with Sammy Hagar; Kelly Keagy from the band Night Ranger; firebrand rocker Ted Nugent; keyboardist Brett Tuggle (Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, David Lee Roth, Rick Springfield); and two of Zychek’s siblings, among others. The film also features rare live performance footage, including split-second evidence of David Koresh attending a show, and makes good use of audio from past interviews with Zychek. It is narrated by Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz, who grew up in Waco and is the long-standing percussionist for the popular Athens, Georgia-based rock band Widespread Panic.
In an interview conducted before the film’s premiere, which took place at Waco’s historic Hippodrome on November 12, Anna Shaw spoke of the impetus for the project, which came about after Zychek died of cancer in 2016. “Living in Waco, you knew David,” she said. Troy had collaborated with Zychek on a couple of his own recording projects as well as on some music videos for Zychek. Troy took Zychek’s death fairly hard, and Anna was looking for a way to help channel his grief into something productive. “I really wanted to tell [Zychek’s] story, not knowing at the time where it would take us.” While raising three children, and with Anna holding down a full-time job at Baylor, the couple, who had no real experience with documentary filmmaking, traveled across the country conducting interviews and collecting details about Zychek’s looping path. The result is a touching glimpse into Zychek’s life and career, from his earliest childhood bands to his brushes with greater fame to a few narrowly missed opportunities.
Born David Zajicek in Biloxi, Mississippi, Zychek (he changed the spelling of his surname for show business purposes) grew up in tiny Buckholts, an hour south of Waco. He graduated from Buckholts High School in 1969 before falling in with the Austin music scene, where he played lead guitar with bands Helix, Texas, and Morpheus Fargo, a project that would take him to Los Angeles for a stint. Eventually, he’d spend time in Colorado playing with regional touring band Head First. This group eventually led him to the band Airborne, with whom he recorded an album for Columbia Records in 1979 that came very close to breaking out.
After Airborne failed to take off, Zychek returned to Texas, where he formed a bluesy, hard rock power trio with longtime friend and guitarist San Davis and drummer Gary Pavlica. The Groove Kings would be Zychek’s long-standing Central Texas band. In the early eighties, the Groove Kings would back up celebrated bluesman Bo Diddley during a Texas stint after he’d seen them perform at Dallas’s Agora Ballroom. The Groove Kings’ Christmas shows at historic Sefcik Hall, in Seaton, outside of Temple, became an annual tradition for Zychek’s Central Texas fans.
In between his many musical endeavors, Zychek played studio gigs with members of the Steve Miller Band and Uriah Heep and embarked on a yearlong tour with Night Ranger.
The film covers Zychek’s career ups and downs in full, but the assessment of his guitar-playing via interviews with his peers really brings his formidable talents into focus. In the course of praising his playing, numerous comparisons to other rock guitar greats are made: Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Lindsey Buckingham, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen. “Was he a Jimi Hendrix or an Eddie Van Halen?” Ted Nugent asks rhetorically. “Well, that’s big, but I don’t think David’s ‘big’ was any less than that,” Nugent concludes before going on to refer to Zychek as both a “musical genius and musical visionary.”
Among the praise, award-winning producer, songwriter, and arranger Ric Cabot Podmore offers an especially illustrative take. “If Marvel Comics ever invented Guitarman, it would be David Zychek. You had the mild-mannered guy that was fun to be around, but then he strapped on a guitar and it was like superhuman stuff.”
In the end, narrator Ortiz poses a heavy question: “Is fame the ultimate measure of success, or does artistic fulfillment and talent hold greater significance?” What would have happened if the Airborne record had broken through? Would Zychek have achieved greater renown if he hadn’t returned to Waco? What would have come of that inexplicably unreturned phone call from ZZ Top manager and producer Bill Ham? Would greater fame have suited a boy from Buckholts? These are questions the film cannot answer.
The film is being submitted for consideration at several festivals, where the Shaws hope it will resonate with both music lovers and those who appreciate a genuinely told story about an undersung hero of rock and roll.
