---
title: Steve Hunter
description: Steve Hunter, the guitarist of Lou Reed’s Berlin and Rock ’n’ Roll Animal, who played beside Sarth Calhoun in Reed’s band on the spring 2008 U.S. tour and at Lollapalooza 2009.
url: https://www.sarth.net/conspirators/steve-hunter/
credit: Steve Hunter and Sarth Calhoun played together in Lou Reed’s band on the spring 2008 U.S. tour, including the Highline Ballroom show of May 5, 2008, and at Lollapalooza 2009.
author: Sarth Calhoun
---
[Conspirators](/conspirators/) / Steve Hunter

Conspirator

# Steve Hunter

The guitarist of *Berlin* and *Rock ’n’ Roll Animal*. We played in Lou Reed’s band together in 2008 and 2009.

[Steve Hunter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Hunter) (born 1948, Decatur, Illinois) is an American guitarist, nicknamed “The Deacon” by the producer Bob Ezrin. He first played with Mitch Ryder’s band Detroit, whose cover of “Rock & Roll” led Lou Reed to recruit him; he played on *Berlin* (1973) and, with Dick Wagner, in the band on *Rock ’n’ Roll Animal* and *Lou Reed Live*, and wrote the intro to the live “Sweet Jane.” He has played on ten Alice Cooper albums beginning with *Billion Dollar Babies*, rejoined Reed for the staged *Berlin* in 2006 and its tours, and released *The Manhattan Blues Project* in 2013.

![Steve Hunter with a guitar, 2013.](/images/conspirator-steve-hunter.jpg)

Steve Hunter, March 2013. Photo: Nylongirl, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steve_Hunter_Guitar_Player.JPG).

> Rob Wasserman’s upright electric bass, Kevin Hearn’s string/horn patches, Sarth Calhoun’s invisible Macbookery, and guitarist Steve Hunter’s fiery if decidedly inside-the-box solos.
> 
> Jesse Jarnow, [The Village Voice, May 6, 2008](https://www.villagevoice.com/live-lou-reed-at-the-highline-ballrooms-first-birthday-party/), on the Highline Ballroom show

## Lou Reed’s band

He was in the band around Lou at the first rehearsals at SIR in April 2008 and on the [spring 2008 U.S. tour](/conspiracies/lou-reed-spring-2008-tour/), guitars with [Mike Rathke](/conspirators/mike-rathke/) while I did electronics and live processing, and he plays guitar on [*Lou Reed Live at Lollapalooza 2009*](/transmissions/lou-reed-live-at-lollapalooza-2009/).

The credit: Steve Hunter and Sarth Calhoun played together in Lou Reed’s band on the spring 2008 U.S. tour, including the Highline Ballroom show of May 5, 2008, and at Lollapalooza 2009.

![Lou Reed’s band on a club stage under red curtains, left to right: Rob Wasserman, Mike Rathke, Lou Reed, Sarth Calhoun, Tony “Thunder” Smith, John Zorn, Steve Hunter, Kevin Hearn.](/images/mwm-5113.jpg)

Lou Reed’s band at the Highline Ballroom, New York, May 5, 2008, the last night of the spring tour, with John Zorn. Photo: Mark McGauley.

Left to right: Rob Wasserman, Mike Rathke, Lou Reed, Sarth Calhoun, Tony “Thunder” Smith, John Zorn, Steve Hunter, Kevin Hearn. Highline Ballroom, May 5, 2008. Named by Sarth Calhoun, September 23, 2026. Photo: Mark McGauley.

The profile is from public sources, linked where they appear. What we made is the record on this site and the sources cited above.