Fame Is Dangerous

Hey Zoo Freaks, the Zoo Crew is spinning something fresh and a little cautionary tonight from Gary Myrick. We're talking "Fame Is Dangerous" off his recent EP called 4 Singles. This one has that heavy psychedelic edge mixed with the rootsy rock and blues that Gary has always carried with him. The track has been floating around in different forms for a while, showing up earlier on Waltz of the Scarecrow King, but the version on this new four-song collection feels right at home in 2026. Gary himself has been posting about it on social media, calling the whole EP heavy and psychedelic, urging folks to give it a spin across the platforms. The lyrics dig into the darker side of the spotlight, talking about how fame can eat a man alive, referencing the losses of people like John Lennon and Elvis, even touching on bigger ideas with lines about Jesus on the cross. It comes across as a warning from someone who has seen the business up close for decades, watching friends and legends get chewed up by the very thing everyone chases. No big dramatic interview quotes specifically about this track turning up in the usual places, but the social posts and the song itself tell the story plain enough. Fame looks glamorous from the outside, but it carries real weight and real danger if you let it run the show.

Gary has always written from a place that feels personal and observed. That Texas background comes through even when the guitars get more experimental. The Zoo Crew loves when an artist circles back to a song years later and gives it new life. Here the arrangement stays tight and driving, with Gary handling the instruments in that hands-on way he prefers these days. It fits right into the freeform spirit we chase at THE ZOO. Listeners who remember the early Figures records or the later blues explorations will hear the same restless guitar player still searching for the next truth in the notes. The EP also includes tracks like Havana, Evil Men, and Honk If You Love Jesus, so the whole thing feels like a short, pointed statement rather than a long-form album. Perfect for a station that likes to dig deeper than the usual hits.

Now, how did this Dallas-born guitarist and songwriter get started in the first place? Gary grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as a fifth-generation Texan. Music grabbed him early. His mother noticed the creative streak showing up in drawings when he was just a little kid and suggested he pick up an instrument. By age ten he was playing guitar. Lessons at a downtown Dallas music store helped, but he practiced without anyone pushing him. Songwriting started around fourteen. By eighteen he had his first all-original band, a three-piece glam-pop outfit called Smiley. Not long after that came Gary Myrick and Slip of the Wrist, another original-focused group that built a strong following at the legendary Cellar Club in Dallas. That place was wild in the seventies. Bouncers carried guns, and the nights ran long and loud. Gary played five nights a week for a couple of years, cutting his teeth on original Texas blues-rock material and learning how to hold a room.

Word traveled down to Austin. The band Krackerjack needed a guitarist after Stevie Ray Vaughan moved on. Uncle John Turner, the original drummer from the Johnny Winter Trio, and Tommy Shannon on bass (who later joined Double Trouble) brought Gary in. He spent a couple of years in that scene, soaking up the Austin energy and refining the blues foundation that still runs under everything he does. After that chapter he headed west to Los Angeles in the late seventies. There he formed Gary Myrick and the Figures. The self-titled debut in 1980 delivered the cult favorite "She Talks in Stereo," a song that found its way onto radio playlists, the Valley Girl soundtrack, and plenty of late-night MTV rotations. Follow-up records, solo work, session dates with John Waite on the No Brakes album (including the number-one single Missing You), and the later Havana 3am project with Paul Simonon from the Clash kept the momentum going through the decades. Gary has always mixed the rootsy Texas feel with whatever new wave or rock energy was in the air at the time. That same mix is still present on 4 Singles.

Through all the changes in the industry, Gary has stayed a working musician who writes, plays, and produces on his own terms. Recent years have seen more blues-focused releases, twelve-string acoustic experiments, and these short EP bursts like the current one. The social posts show a guy still excited about new music, still sharing the tracks directly with listeners, and still rooted in that original Texas drive. For anyone wanting to follow along, check out his official site at garymyrick.com, the Facebook page at facebook.com/garygmyrick, and Instagram at instagram.com/garymyrick1. Those are the spots where the new material and older stories surface regularly. No active dedicated fan groups jumped out in the usual places, so the artist's own pages remain the best direct connection.

That is the kind of story the Zoo Crew likes to share while the record spins. A Texas kid who started young, paid dues in the clubs, replaced a future legend, scored some radio and video time, collaborated with big names, and keeps releasing music that still carries weight. "Fame Is Dangerous" fits the freeform album-rock spirit perfectly. It is not a nostalgic rehash. It is a working musician looking at the cost of the spotlight and turning it into something you can feel in the speakers. Keep the requests coming, Zoo Freaks. We will keep digging for the deep cuts and the fresh sides that deserve the airtime.