Paul Cummins and the Lion Dogs are a Southern California based blues/blues rock trio with a sound that blends the traditions with a twist of their own energy.
They are led by Paul Cummins,(duh) one of the four finalists from the 1997 Fender Blues Guitar Competition to be invited to the 1st Annual Fender Blues Festival on Catalina Island.
Paul joined his first band in 1967 at 13 as its sax player."The West Coast Blues Co." was far from your typical garage band.Assembled and managed by Dale Smallin- the mgr. of The Surfaris (who laughed "that laugh" at the beginning of Wipeout!);they were in a movie (The Day that Sang & Cried- 1968),recorded at Capitol,and performed twice a week.But after 3 years,another casualty of the times;they disbanded.
Paul kept up his sax through high school;and in 1972 went to Mt San Antonio College in Walnut,CA to study jazz; then transferred to UC Irvine in 1974,where he began getting serious about the guitar. From then on,Paul has been active in both LA's Blues and Rock scenes;sharing stage and studio with some of the area's top players.
In 1997,he entered the Fender Blues Guitar Competition; finishing as one of the 4 Finalists invited to the 1st Fender Blues Festival on Catalina Island.As a result of his trip to Catalina,he has appeared on local TV, and was asked to tour as part of Chuck Berry's backup band.
In 1999, he formed Paul Cummins & the Lion Dogs- with long-time friends Doug Dalley and Bob Buchler on bass and drums;and began promoting the band online to compliment their live shows.On the web's biggest music site,"The Hookman" reached #7 on the Global Rock chart, topped the Global Blues & Blues/Rock charts for 9 months;and stayed in the Top 10 on the Blues/Rock chart in LA for 1 1/2 years!
They've been Featured 6 times on mp3.com, twice at Riffage.com,and once on Playhear.com, JavaMusic.com, and TuneBandit.com; and have received rave reviews at the top internet music review sites: mp3reviews.com,The Rob Report, lamusicscene.com,and Listen.com.
Their music is on FM radio stations in the US and Europe; and you can see them live at the better venues in LA.
Watch for us at Southern California's better blues and rock clubs...
Eric Clapton and John Mayall meet Rory Gallager, Johnny Winter, and the Old Steve Miller Band.Mix in some Buddy Guy jammin'with John Fogerty. Toss in Canned Heat with Peter Green or Michael Bloomfield on guitar, and you're just about there.
We're a pretty straightforward lot. I play a couple of Fender Stratocasters, Guild acoustics, and a National Tricone; and use Fender Amplification. No effects except I like this one called "Vol" sometimes.
Doug plays a '65 Fender Precision bass through a Gallien Kreuger amp, and Bob plays DW drums.
http://www.thelamusicscene.com/articles/00074/index.php3
L.A. High Society Rocks Rusty's by Peter G. Lancellotti
Paul Cummins and the Lion Dogs closed the evening with a sanguine and humorous performance of blues and R&B, which included cover songs and original material. From jazzy swing shuffle to back porch acoustics, then round to slinky swamp blues and raspy vocals, Paul Cummins and the Lion Dogs got many women in the audience onto the dance floor during their set.
Cummins has such a long list of accomplishments it would be difficult to name them all here. To highlight a few, he was a finalist in the Fender Blues Guitar Competition in 1997 and went on to attend the 1st Annual Fender Blues Festival on Catalina Island. He's played with the likes of Chuck Berry, the recent MP3 Blues All-Stars Project consisting of musicians all over North America.
In September 1999, Cummins released his original song "The Hookman" which gives us a sassy sound of the classic blues-rock genre. It has a sort of long-cool-woman-in-a-black-dress feel from 70's band The Hollies with a neoteric slant. Overall, Cummins has a fabulously smooth guitar style...
