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At a little after 10 p.m. on Feb. 16, Utah musician Ché Zuro received a text message from a friend in Baltimore.

Then another message from another friend arrived, followed by another and another and another until about 3 a.m.

On that night's episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," the host held up the circa-1980 album recorded by Zuro's former band, the all-female rock group The Orchids.

Fallon said The Orchids were on his "Do Not Play" list, and he winced while listening to the opening bars of "If Boys Got Pregnant."

"It was the most hysterical thing," said Zuro, who now lives in Eden. "I cracked up."

Zuro sent a "thank you" note to The Tonight Show for highlighting her old band, she said, and eventually heard back from the show's producers.

"They wanted to know if we still have the jumpsuits," she said.

The Orchids may be a blast from Zuro's past, but its performances are far from the last time she performed professionally. The singer-songwriter, a skier who moved to Utah "seven or eight years ago," continues to perform regularly at Deer Valley, Snowbird and Powder Mountain, as well as venues around Ogden, Salt Lake City and Park City.

Zuro said she started taking organ lessons when she was 7 and as a girl, wanted to grow up to be Keith Richards.

"No one ever told me I couldn't," she said.

Her first band was an outfit named Backstage Pass, which led to a spot on The Orchids, whose bassist Laurie McAllister was a member of The Runaways. She also joined an English band named The Photos and later was a member of the Josie Cotton band.

When asked how many bands she participated in, Zuro said "I don't know, 20 maybe, or more."

Zuro said she left Los Angeles because it got too crowded, with a seemingly endless pool of musicians competing for a few paying gigs. It's easier to support yourself in Utah, she said, where venue managers aren't as interested in exploiting talent.

"Everybody seems to appreciate music more and are willing to pay for a good professional musician."

After dozens of bands over the years, Zuro mostly spends her time now as a solo act. She said it allows her to be more flexible, taking requests from the audience and molding her sound to fit the mood of the venue.

"It's nice to be able to be adaptable and talk to the audience and have fun," she said. "It's really social for me."

About the series

O 'I love' video • Che Zuro loves to make music. Watch her story in the latest video in The Tribune's "I Love" video series, which features people with a passion. Find the series at ilove.sltrib.com.