Doug Pinnick

Doug Pinnick, often stylized as dUg Pinnick, is known first and foremost as the soulful co-lead vocalist and bassist for hard rockers <a href="spotify:artist:3tn79LMMIdIT1T0TXumjaH">King's X</a>, a genre-defying American rock band that employs a compelling blend of melodic Beatlesque harmonies, metallic riffing, and prog rock detours. Since debuting in 1983, the group has released fifteen albums, but Pinnick has proven to be as versatile with his projects as he is with his playing style, collaborating with a wide array of artists like <a href="spotify:artist:2aaLAng2L2aWD2FClzwiep">Dream Theater</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6Uhp7WA6sjm5ZL6Xz561de">Living Colour</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3WQx0LWkYh95zn8McSjbJh">Jeff Ament</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4t9bqcZJUC9cAjgRRNVm6u">George Lynch</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4ZMaiDLfxDaoG7ULXgcnDb">Steve Stevens</a>. In addition to enjoying a prolific solo career -- he often records under the monikers <a href="spotify:artist:4zhnhQJ5l3nVX3vtqeJ28h">Poundhound</a> and dUg -- Pinnick has been a member of several bands outside of <a href="spotify:artist:3tn79LMMIdIT1T0TXumjaH">King's X</a>, including <a href="spotify:artist:2vo5npKia6jxgWEHjaWZAP">Supershine</a>, The Mob, Razr13, <a href="spotify:artist:0H4IoKpLGVwsfqGah56xwM">Tres Mtns.</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%223rd+Ear+Experience%22">3rd Ear Experience</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2JRFJKmLEPXF9O2CAa3oDW">KXM</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:39Wi6qoE3rBMRsymm9lVQd">Grinder Blues</a>.

Born September 3, 1950, in Joliet, IL, Pinnick discovered rock & roll through such greats as <a href="spotify:artist:5m8H6zSadhu1j9Yi04VLqD">Sly and the Family Stone</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:36QJpDe2go2KgaRleHCDTp">Led Zeppelin</a>, while he borrowed from gospel for his singing style. When a gig backing up Christian guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1bAzlT6fMBcvCfwgh4S3Xl">Phil Keaggy</a> broke up in the early '80s, Pinnick formed a new band with fellow ex-<a href="spotify:artist:1bAzlT6fMBcvCfwgh4S3Xl">Keaggy</a> member <a href="spotify:artist:4ueoxJoenDg9dqb1cRwEv3">Jerry Gaskill</a> (drums) and guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1nt3Ldwez8QpiyylYdcDJd">Ty Tabor</a>. It would take several years of playing covers in bars throughout the South before the new band would click musically and eventually settle on a name: <a href="spotify:artist:3tn79LMMIdIT1T0TXumjaH">King's X</a>. Signing to Megaforce/Atlantic in 1987, the trio became a favorite with the metal and progressive rock crowd; their music also contained elements of alternative in their hard rock, long before it became en vogue during the '90s. Pinnick is one of the few bassists of hard rock who uses a 12-string bass regularly, which is a major ingredient to the magical <a href="spotify:artist:3tn79LMMIdIT1T0TXumjaH">King's X</a> sound. After six critically acclaimed releases, Pinnick released his first solo album, Massive Grooves From the Electric Church of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music, in 1998 under the alias <a href="spotify:artist:4zhnhQJ5l3nVX3vtqeJ28h">Poundhound</a>.

In 2000, Pinnick formed another side project (<a href="spotify:artist:2vo5npKia6jxgWEHjaWZAP">Supershine</a>), which included ex-members of <a href="spotify:artist:5M52tdBnJaKSvOpJGz8mfZ">Sabbath</a>-sludge-rockers <a href="spotify:artist:0eayuW5zGMgvXCEmcP7ivq">Trouble</a> (guitarist Bruce Franklin and drummer Jeff Olson) -- issuing a self-titled release on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Metal+Blade%22">Metal Blade</a> the same year, while a second <a href="spotify:artist:4zhnhQJ5l3nVX3vtqeJ28h">Poundhound</a> album followed in 2001, titled Pineappleskunk.

Pinnick opted not to use the <a href="spotify:artist:4zhnhQJ5l3nVX3vtqeJ28h">Poundhound</a> moniker for his next solo outing, 2005's Emotional Animal, and took the same approach on 2007's Strum Sum Up, the latter of which featured a slew of guest players, including <a href="spotify:artist:4ZMaiDLfxDaoG7ULXgcnDb">Steve Stevens</a>, Hal Sparks, and <a href="spotify:artist:57vhIhkzqXdrZnLoD0yl9C">Alain Johannes</a>, among others. 2011 heralded the release of Three Mountains, the debut outing from <a href="spotify:artist:0H4IoKpLGVwsfqGah56xwM">Tres Mtns.</a>, a side project that saw Pinnick team up with <a href="spotify:artist:3WQx0LWkYh95zn8McSjbJh">Jeff Ament</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:1w5Kfo2jwwIPruYS2UWh56">Pearl Jam</a>) and Richard Stuverud (<a href="spotify:artist:2mlDM1k4J5XijZKXALxhDT">Fastbacks</a>), and in 2013 he issued his fourth solo LP, Naked, along with the eponymous debut from <a href="spotify:artist:4a7afbkP3XFyIrsi8HavWB">Pinnick Gales Pridgen</a>, a collaboration with blues rocker <a href="spotify:artist:3x8RBu8okCCBLi5vnY4UyV">Eric Gales</a> (AKA Raw Dog) and ex-<a href="spotify:artist:75U40yZLLPglFgXbDVnmVs">Mars Volta</a> drummer Thomas Pridgen. <a href="spotify:artist:4a7afbkP3XFyIrsi8HavWB">Pinnick Gales Pridgen</a>'s sophomore effort, PGP 2, arrived the following year, as did the eponymous debut from <a href="spotify:artist:2JRFJKmLEPXF9O2CAa3oDW">KXM</a>, an all-star group featuring former <a href="spotify:artist:09hNSPPOxDop4FRdr6UEnq">Dokken</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:4t9bqcZJUC9cAjgRRNVm6u">George Lynch</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD">Korn</a> drummer Ray Luzier, and the eponymous debut from <a href="spotify:artist:39Wi6qoE3rBMRsymm9lVQd">Grinder Blues</a>, a hard rock blues trio consisting of Pinnick, guitarist and vocalist Jabo Bihlman, and Scot Bihlman on drums. In 2018 Pinnick joined <a href="spotify:artist:4WquJweZPIK9qcfVFhTKvf">MC5</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:0JGfqnC4eGPGcRh7WL3DQg">Wayne Kramer</a> on a 35 date tour of North America for the 50th anniversary of the bands debut, Kick Out the Jams.

Along with his work with <a href="spotify:artist:3tn79LMMIdIT1T0TXumjaH">King's X</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4zhnhQJ5l3nVX3vtqeJ28h">Poundhound</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2vo5npKia6jxgWEHjaWZAP">Supershine</a>, Pinnick has also guested on albums by other artists, including <a href="spotify:artist:5EvYDcSvmVxZuMe4faStNq">24-7 Spyz</a> 6, <a href="spotify:artist:2aaLAng2L2aWD2FClzwiep">Dream Theater</a>'s Falling Into Infinity, and <a href="spotify:artist:0kjCvirhAHq3JMex6bqEBZ">Carmine Appice</a>'s Guitar Zeus; has produced a pair of albums for Geek (which includes the two sons of <a href="spotify:artist:3tn79LMMIdIT1T0TXumjaH">King's X</a> drummer <a href="spotify:artist:4ueoxJoenDg9dqb1cRwEv3">Gaskill</a>); and has appeared on tribute albums for <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a> (In From the Storm), <a href="spotify:artist:2cnMpRsOVqtPMfq7YiFE6K">Van Halen</a> (Little Guitars: A Tribute To), and <a href="spotify:artist:2ye2Wgw4gimLv2eAKyk1NB">Metallica</a> (Metallic Assault: A Tribute To). ~ Greg Prato, Rovi