Doug Pinnick

Doug Pinnick
Doug Pinnick performing with King's X in 2009
Background information
Born	September 3, 1950 (1950-09-03) (age 61)
Instruments	Vocals, bass
Associated acts	King's X, Tres Mts.

Doug Pinnick sometimes stylised as dUg Pinnick or simply dUg (born September 3, 1950) is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist, songwriter, and co-lead vocalist for the hard rock/progressive metal band King's X. He has fourteen albums with King's X, four solo albums, and numerous side projects and guest appearances to his credit. Pinnick is known for his gospel-like voice and his heavily distorted bass tone, played through multiple Ampeg SVT-4 amplifiers.

History

Doug Pinnick was born in Braidwood, Illinois then moved to Joliet, Illinois when he was fourteen. He grew up in a musical family where everyone either sang or played an instrument. He was raised by his great-grandmother, a devoutly religious woman, and was reared in a very strict Southern Baptist environment. He has seventeen half-brothers and sisters, from three mothers and two fathers. When he was in grade school, Pinnick participated in choir and played saxophone. As a teenager, he listened to classic R&B and Motown artists such as Stevie Wonder, Little Richard, and Aretha Franklin. Pinnick sang in bands throughout high school, one of the earliest being a group called Stone Flower which he describes as "Chicago Transit Authority meets Sly & The Family Stone". While attending Joliet Junior College in 1969, Pinnick was inspired by hard rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. Around this time, he also started listening to perhaps his biggest influence, Sly & The Family Stone. His dream was to form a band that combined all of these varied influences.

After attending college for roughly six months, Pinnick dropped out and joined a travelling gospel band called The Spurlows.

At one point in the early seventies, Pinnick moved to a Christian community in Florida. There, he remained involved in the music business by promoting small shows by Christian rock bands. He soon grew tired of that and moved back to Illinois.

In the mid seventies, Pinnick formed a band called Servant with keyboardist Matt Spransy. They were described as a progressive Art Rock type of band along the lines of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The band played all over the midwest and even put together a demo of original songs. Oddly enough, there was a band from Canada that also called themselves Servant who had actually scored a recording contract. Spransy ended up joining the Canadian version of Servant in the late seventies, and that band recorded a song that he and Pinnick had written together called "I'm Gonna Live". It appears on their 1981 album Rockin' Revival.

Pinnick was also part of Alpha as well as his own "Doug Pinnick Band" shortly after Spransy joined the Canadian Servant.

In 1979, Pinnick was invited to join a band that was forming in Springfield, MO. with singer Greg X. Volz of Petra fame. He accepted the offer and re-located, only to have the band dissolve within a month of his arrival. He was soon offered a spot in guitarist Phil Keaggy's touring band, along with the drummer from the failed Volz project, Jerry Gaskill. Pinnick has a co-writing credit on the track "Just A Moment Away" from Keaggy's 1980 album Ph'lip Side. Pinnick toured with Keaggy for about a year before returning to Springfield and set about looking for a new musical project.

Pinnick soon became involved with guitarist Ty Tabor after seeing him play a concert at Evangel College in Springfield. Jerry Gaskill was later included and the band The Edge was born. In 1983, the band changed their name to Sneak Preview and released an independent, self titled LP. The trio evolved into King's X several years (and a move to Houston, Tx.) later.

Since then, Pinnick has become one of the most respected voices in rock music by fans, critics, and peers alike. He is highly sought-after by other artists for album guest appearances, as well as membership in several side bands and recording projects.^[1]

In 1998, Pinnick confirmed his homosexual orientation during an interview for Regeneration Quarterly.^[2][3][4] Diamante Music Group cancelled distribution of King's X material in Christian retail stores following this information becoming public knowledge.^[3] In recent years, Pinnick has revealed that he now identifies as agnostic, in contrast to his Contemporary Christian music past.^[5][6]

Besides King's X, Pinnick became active with his own Hound Pound studio in Texas.^[7]

Projects

Pinnick's first solo project, Poundhound, released two albums, Massive Grooves and Pineappleskunk, with King's X bandmate Jerry Gaskill on drums. Doug dropped the Poundhound moniker for his third solo album, Emotional Animal, instead crediting himself as "dUg Pinnick." The album, released by Magna Carta Records, features Gaskill's son, Joey, on drums.

He released his fourth solo album, Strum Sum Up in November, 2007 on Magna Carta.

Pinnick was also a member of the short-lived band Supershine, along with long-time Trouble guitarist, Bruce Franklin and Trouble drummer, Jeff Olson. Supershine released only one self-titled album in 2000 on Metal Blade Records.

He sang lead vocals on the eponymous debut album by former Winger guitarist Reb Beach's band The Mob, released in 2005. He also stood in for lead singer Corey Glover on Living Colour's European tour in August 2006.

Other vocal appearances by Doug Pinnick include Dream Theater's "Lines In The Sand" (guest vocals in the choruses) from the Falling into Infinity album, "Welcome To The Machine" from the An All Star Lineup Performing the Songs of Pink Floyd album, "Parasite" on an all-star tribute to Kiss entitled Spin The Bottle, as well as "Taxman" on a Beatles tribute album entitled Butchering the Beatles.

Pinnick appears on the 2008 holiday album We Wish You A Metal XMas..., a compilation album featuring many hard rock musicians collaborating on popular Christmas songs. Pinnick appears on the track "Little Drummer Boy".

He performed guest vocals on the Black Sugar Transmission track "Runnin' Like a Dog", which was released on the band's e.p. USE IT in 2009.

He also performs with King's X partner Ty Tabor, along with former Galactic Cowboys members Wally Farkas and Alan Doss, as a group called The Jibbs. They have a song, "Burns In The Rain", available via download to help relief efforts following Hurricane Ike.^[8]

Dug sang all lead vocals on Razr 13's (Austin, TX) debut record "Reflections" released in 2009.

Professional wrestler, Vinnie Vineyard (Funkmaster V of Tennessee Xtreme Wrestling) uses a remixed version of Pinnick's "Coming Over" as his entrance music.

Hal Sparks used several tracks off of Pinnick's Strum Sum Up CD as his musical accompaniment during his magic show performances on VH1's Celebracadabra that aired in 2008

Pinnick's side project, Tres Mts., with Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam and Richard Stuverud of the Fastbacks, is set to release their album, Three Mountains, through Monkeywrench Records on March 8, 2011.^[9]

Equipment

Pinnick is a notable user of the 12 string bass, which is a bass guitar with 4 sets of triple coursed octave strings, similar to a 12 string guitar. Pinnick owns a custom made 12 string bass, made by Yamaha, which he uses in the studio and in live performences. Pinnick was endorsed by Yamaha, although he briefly switched to Dean guitars in the late 2000s. Pinnick also recently endorsed by Schecter, and used two Model-T basses in 2011 for the Live Love over Europe tour.^[10]

He uses Ampeg amplifiers exclusively. He also uses a complex rig set-up including many EQ's and amplifiers. Pinnick is also a user of the Line 6 POD pro, which he uses for effects. Oddly, he uses the guitar, not the bass model of the POD pro effects.^[11]

Complete discography

King's X See the entry for King's X Solo albums Poundhound - Massive Grooves... (1998) Poundhound - Pineappleskunk (2001) Emotional Animal (2005) Songs from the Closet (Molken Music, 2006) A collection of King's X demos with 2 previously unreleased songs Strum Sum Up (2007) Side bands Supershine - s/t (2000) The Mob - s/t (2005) The Jibbs - "Burns In The Rain" single (2008)[8] Razr 13 - Reflections (2009) Tres Mts. - Three Mountains (2011)

Guest appearances Pearl Jam - "Dissident" single, vocals on the live track "W.M.A." (1994) Jimi Hendrix Tribute album: In From The Storm (1995) 24-7 Spyz: 6 (1996) Carmine Appice: Guitar Zeus 1 (1996) Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity, vocals on the track "Lines in the Sand" (1997) Tribe After Tribe: Pearls Before Swine (1997) Metallica Tribute album: Metallic Assault (2000) Van Halen Tribute album: Little Guitars (2000) Aerosmith Tribute album: One Way Street (2002) Pink Floyd Tribute album: Pigs And Pyramids (2002) Mr. Big Tribute album: Influences and Connections (2003) AC/DC Tribute album: AC/DC We Salute You (2004) Lance Lopez: Wall Of Soul (2004) Kiss Tribute album: Spin The Bottle (2004) 24-7 Spyz: Face The Day (2006) Beatles Tribute album: Butchering The Beatles (2006) Ty Tabor: Rock Garden (2006) Steve Stevens: Memory Crash (2008) Liberty 'N Justice: 4 All: Best of LNJ, vocals on the track "Rage" (2008) Jeff Ament: Tone (2008) We Wish You A Metal X-Mas Holiday album, vocals on the track "Little Drummer Boy" (2008)[12] Black Sugar Transmission: "Use It", vocals on the track "Runnin' Like a Dog" (2009) Billy Sheehan: Holy Cow!, vocals on the track "Turning Point" (2009) Thomas Tomsen: Sunflickers, bass on the track "Godfather's Walk" (2010) Hydrogyn: "Judgement' ',vocals on the track "Big Star" (2010) Sin-Atra, Frank Sinatra Tribute album. (2011)

References

1. ^ Febre, Erica (19 July 2007). "Billy Sheehan, Doug Pinnick on bass / Daddy’s holds clinic with Mr. Big, King’s X members". Hippo Press. http://www.hippopress.com/music/nite070719a.html. Retrieved 2007-12-14. 
2. ^ Joseph, Mark (Fall 1998). If there's a God, we need to talk. 4. Regeneration Quarterly. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Bacote, Vincent (Winter 1999). While Pinnick Seeks Answers.... 5. Regeneration Quarterly. http://www.ctlibrary.com/12380. Retrieved 2007-12-14. 
4. ^ Van Pelt, Doug (February 1999 (time of interview)). "No Room Inside a Box". HM. http://www.hmmagazine.com/oe/archives/000367.php. Retrieved 2007-12-14. 
5. ^ "King's X Frontman Doug Pinnick Addresses Breakup Rumors". Blabbermouth. 2006-05-22. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=52609. Retrieved 2009-01-16. 
6. ^ Urban, Robert (2007-07-17). "Rocking Out – Male Musicians Straddle the Closet | People, Celebrities, Actors & Profiles Of Gay & Bisexual Men In Movies, TV Shows & Music". AfterElton.com. http://www.afterelton.com/music/2007/7malemusicians. Retrieved 2011-07-20. 
7. ^ Mariani, Anthony (2000-05-20). "Art School Style / Once a relentless trailblazer, King's X sticks to the familiar with new release". Houston Press. http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-05-25/music/art-school-style/. Retrieved 2009-01-26. 
8. ^ ^{a b} "Members Of KING’S X And GALACTIC COWBOYS Unite As THE JIBBS « Blabberjesus.com". Divinemetaldistro.wordpress.com. 2008-09-17. http://divinemetaldistro.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/members-of-kings-x-and-galactic-cowboys-unite-as-the-jibbs/. Retrieved 2011-07-20. 
9. ^ "Tres Mts. To Release Debut Album March 8th". Type 3 Media. 2011-02-01. http://type3media.com/2011/02/01/tres-mts-to-release-debut-album-march-8th/. Retrieved 2011-07-20. 
10. ^ King's X dUg PINNICK joins the Schecter Family!King's X dUg PINNICK joins the Schecter Family! - Schecter Guitar Research
11. ^ "The 12-String Bass Website". 12stringbass.net. http://www.12stringbass.net/master.htm?http://www.12stringbass.net/DougsRig.htm. Retrieved 2011-07-20. 
12. ^ "Review: We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year [2008] « GEARS OF ROCK – Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Music Reviews". Gearsofrock.wordpress.com. 2008-10-16. http://gearsofrock.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/review-we-wish-you-a-metal-xmas-and-a-headbanging-new-year-2008/. Retrieved 2011-07-20. 

External links

• Official website
• Doug's Myspace page
• 2003 HM Magazine interview

Persondata
Name	Pinnick, Doug
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1950-09-03
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death