Doug Pinnick, often stylized as
dUg Pinnick, is known first and foremost as the soulful co-lead vocalist and bassist for hard rockers
King's X, 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
Dream Theater,
Living Colour,
Jeff Ament,
George Lynch, and
Steve Stevens. In addition to enjoying a prolific solo career -- he often records under the monikers
Poundhound and
dUg --
Pinnick has been a member of several bands outside of
King's X, including
Supershine, The Mob, Razr13,
Tres Mtns., 3rd Ear Experience,
KXM, and
Grinder Blues.
Born September 3, 1950, in Joliet, IL,
Pinnick discovered rock & roll through such greats as
Sly and the Family Stone,
Jimi Hendrix, and
Led Zeppelin, while he borrowed from gospel for his singing style. When a gig backing up Christian guitarist
Phil Keaggy broke up in the early '80s,
Pinnick formed a new band with fellow ex-
Keaggy member
Jerry Gaskill (drums) and guitarist
Ty Tabor. 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:
King's X. 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
King's X 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
Poundhound.
In 2000,
Pinnick formed another side project (
Supershine), which included ex-members of
Sabbath-sludge-rockers
Trouble (guitarist
Bruce Franklin and drummer
Jeff Olson) -- issuing a self-titled release on Metal Blade the same year, while a second
Poundhound album followed in 2001, titled
Pineappleskunk.
Pinnick opted not to use the
Poundhound 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
Steve Stevens, Hal Sparks, and
Alain Johannes, among others. 2011 heralded the release of
Three Mountains, the debut outing from
Tres Mtns., a side project that saw
Pinnick team up with
Jeff Ament (
Pearl Jam) and
Richard Stuverud (
Fastbacks), and in 2013 he issued his fourth solo LP,
Naked, along with the eponymous debut from
Pinnick Gales Pridgen, a collaboration with blues rocker
Eric Gales (AKA Raw Dog) and ex-
Mars Volta drummer
Thomas Pridgen.
Pinnick Gales Pridgen's sophomore effort,
PGP 2, arrived the following year, as did the eponymous debut from
KXM, an all-star group featuring former
Dokken guitarist
George Lynch and
Korn drummer
Ray Luzier, and the eponymous debut from
Grinder Blues, a hard rock blues trio consisting of
Pinnick, guitarist and vocalist Jabo Bihlman, and Scot Bihlman on drums. In 2018
Pinnick joined
MC5's
Wayne Kramer 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
King's X,
Poundhound, and
Supershine,
Pinnick has also guested on albums by other artists, including
24-7 Spyz 6,
Dream Theater's
Falling Into Infinity, and
Carmine Appice's Guitar Zeus; has produced a pair of albums for Geek (which includes the two sons of
King's X drummer
Gaskill); and has appeared on tribute albums for
Jimi Hendrix (In From the Storm),
Van Halen (Little Guitars: A Tribute To), and
Metallica (Metallic Assault: A Tribute To). ~ Greg Prato