The Pogues, Shane MacGowan, The Pixies, Muddy Waters, John Prine, Prince, The Doors, Willie Nelson, Slick Rick, Body Count, Run DMC, Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, Blowfly, Otis Redding, Jobim, The Beatles, Rinocerose, Pink Floyd, Lord Kitchener, Van Morrison, Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Ibrahim Ferrer, Tom Waits, The Roots, The SEX Pistols, The Clash, Aerosmith, Jeff Buckley, Gabby Pahinuni, Iz, Mighty Sparrow, David Bowie, Nest, The Ventures, Dick Dale, Kevin Pugh, Justin Murata, Gary Shackelford, un Young Chong "aka Mr Happy", Stevie Wonder, Modest Mouse
Songwriter/musician/producer/label owner/session player/lyricist/audio engineer/ dj/arranger/instructor/live recordings/singer
Instruments:
Guitar (electric/acoustic), piano, bass, drums, mandolin, accordion, harmonica, steel drums
Kevin currently play guitar and keyboards (also sings some special tunes) with the band Mango Lasse that plays originals and covers. The musical genres vary from rock, blues, reggae, punk and country.
Like many others, this music journey begins on an A flat while Kevin’s piano teacher was striking his finger onto the correct note (or note she wanted him to play). Born into a family of many generations of great musicians, Kevin felt no pressure to become a musical prodigy. After premiering in a few sold out concerts at the age of 7 [ok, they were piano recitals], Kevin wooed the virgin ears to “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” and at a later fully capacity crowd, “William Tell Overture”. Since he didn’t receive any encores, he decided to hang up playing the piano for the time being. An electric guitar birthday present near the completion of high school was all that was needed to produce the “big sound” that was soon to happen.
By no means were the early stages of playing guitar easy. Kevin lost the love of his friends and family very quickly, but continued strumming, in spite of being ostracized by the rest of human civilization. While attending school at UC Berkeley (FYI - He flunked out of the music department & also had a stint in a Javanese Gamelan), Kevin met Justin Murata around 1995, a Hawaiian slack key guitarist who didn’t mind Kevin’s playing. Justin was once quoted as saying, “I loved playing guitar with Kevin. His playing was so bad that it kept burglars away from my apartment. Those were some of the safest days of my life.” Kevin was soon exposed to many of Hawaii’s great musicians: Gabby Pahinui, Iz, Leward Ka’apana, etc. Kevin would later get to visit Justin in Oahu in 1999 to get a greater appreciation for where this music originated.
Gary Shackelford is a Travis pickin’ guitar player that will blow your socks off! Shack used to live across the street from Kevin and had Tuesday night jams sessions that included fine California wine, cool homeboys… and music, too. On any given Tuesday, upon entering his house, you could be mystically transported to Bourbon Street in New Orleans via “Georgia on my Mind” or “When the Saints Go Marching In” with banjo, euphonium & all; or suddenly be riding a train through the Midwest with some hobos singing some Hank Williams, Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson songs. Kevin learned a wealth of musical knowledge from Shack and everyone with whom he was introduced. Shack’s house was where Kevin learned jazz standards, country classics, how to solo, and most importantly – how to have fun with music.
Now that Kevin had some musical knowledge, he was ready to open himself to the public. In the winter of 1999, Kevin made his radio debut on “The Dog House” on KYLD 94.9. “The Dog House” Bay Area shock jock radio show were now famous for being the last radio show to interview The Notorious B.I.G. and 1st radio show to interview Kevin Pugh. “The Dog House” had Kevin play guitar and take requests from listeners who were on their morning commute. After the successful radio show, Kevin felt he was destined to stardom and packed his bags and moved to Los Angeles.
After stumbling across Los Angeles and looking for a place to find guitar strings (Note: there are very few guitarists living in L.A.), Kevin met Un Yung Chong, the owner of Happy Music in Korea-town, California. Kevin and Chong shared the same musical interests: rock, jazz, soul, funk, experimental, Spanish guitar, reggae and many other types. On Sundays, Happy Music became an extension of what was formerly Shack’s house. People would meet at Happy Music with their instruments and let all cars, buses, helicopters and other local businesses on 3rd Street know that we were alive via a term described by Chong as “CREATIVE SONIC POWER”!!! Since meeting Chong, Kevin has learned to play the drums, tenor saxophone, double bass (or, as Chong calls it, the “big fiddle”), mandolin and eats lots of kim chee, washing it down with some soju. This “Creative Sonic Power” is still alive.
Kevin also performs in the legendary Marina del Rey based band The Thirsty Pirates. The band plays all your favorite covers and also drinks rum and pillages ships from the weak.
In addition, Kevin is also performs in Dan Reutter’s comedy/music extravaganza “3 Chords & a Dirty Mouth”. The show consists of original Dan Reutter songs and Dan’s stand-up comedy. Since the 1st show at the Crooked Bar on the Sunset Strip in 2000, “3 Chords & a Dirty Mouth” has delighted audiences everywhere from the World Famous Laugh Factory, IO West, The Knitting Factory, The Gig, The Cat Club and Highland Grounds.
For more information on Kevin Clyde Pugh, please re-read this bio.
