“BLUES DOG”

PAUL SYLVAIN

You might say I'm a Magna Come "LOUDER" graduate  of the Garage Band School of Rock 'n' Roll, Class of '67.

I was born and raised in Nashua, New Hampshire, but have lived and traveled with my guitar in Germany, England, Iceland, and from Maine to Texas across the United States. I've been influenced by many people in different ways over the years. I grew up listening to my late uncle, George Lemire, and distant cousin, Irene "Tiny" Brunelle, play guitar. The folk music explosion, followed by the appearance of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 sealed the deal, and I've been hopelessly hooked ever since.

As much as I liked The Beatles (what teenage kid didn't back then?), it was the Yardbirds, Animals, Kinks and Rolling Stones, among others, that caught my ear and captured my imagination. I didn't know that the music these British Invasion bands were playing and I was digging was our own home-grown, native blues recorded by black artists like Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson, T-Bone Walker, Howling Wolf, Robert Johnson, and others. Many folks came to the blues later, thanks to folks like Stevie Ray Vaughan, but I've had a deep and personal love affair with the blues for the past 45 years.

My music truly reflects the long and sometimes crazy road I've traveled since graduating high school and leaving for the Air Force in 1967. It has only been the past few years that I've developed the confidence to write, record and perform my own original music. The greatest thrill for me, as an old dog still making music for the sheer fun of, is when someone tells me they connected with my lyrics and music in some way.

In recent years, I've been on a deeply personal and spiritual journey of discovery after learning of my American Indian blood connection with a great-grandmother who was Abenaki from Canada. I continue to walk the Red Road, and was given the Lakota name Iwaha Ota, meaning "One who gives laughter," by my Lakota friend and mentor, Itazipa Hanska.

 THE ROCKIN' ROAD DOGS

"MICHIGAN" DAVE GREEN 

 I first met Dave in March 1973, when we both were stationed at an Air Force radar site at Bucks Harbor, Maine. It wasn't long before we had a group up and running, but it wouldn't be until we played our first gig, at a wedding reception at the American Legion Hall in Machias, that we would come up with a name for that band. Despite allusions to a "constellation of stars," or the ship sailed by Jason and the Argonauts, "ARGO" was born from a bad knock-knock joke. 

Dave and I performed under that name for more than 30 years, and at some point along the way, Dave came up with "American Rock and Golden Oldies" as a fitting acronym for "ARGO". The name was retired in 2004 and The Rockin' Road Dogs was born to better reflect the music we play. Dave remains my brother  in a musical relationship spanning more than 35 years.

When not appearing with the full band, Dave and I can be found performing as the acoustic guitar-bass guitar duo "Then Guys" at coffee house and café gigs in the Machias to Eastport, Maine area.

"HOUND DOG" DOUG MUGFORD

Doug, along with his case full of blues harps, has been part of The Rockin' Road Dogs since its christening in 2004. Dave's wife tipped us off about this harmonica player who taught science at the elementary school she also taught at. Dave invited Doug to come over and jam with us one night at Dave's garage, and the rest, as they say, is rock 'n' roll history.

Doug was born in Boston, but moved to Maine with his parents as a youngster. He started blowing the blues harp at an impromptu jam with some area musicians at a party many years ago. He enjoyed it so much he took the instrument up, and we're pretty damn glad he did. 

Doug's garage jam with Dave and me in 2004, coincided with an opportunity to play a two-night blues concert at The University of Maine at Machias Performing Arts Center, as part of the annual homecoming weekend that fall. We had so much fun, we kept the Rockin' Road Dogs name and continue performing when able. 

KRIS "K-TRAIN" RICHARDSON 

Kris is a multitalented musician who plays drums, Native American flutes (which he makes), Chapman Stick, and both six- and seven-string guitar.

Kris and I connected through the Carvin music forums in 2007. Our online chats led to an invitation for Kris to play drums on one of the Dogs' tracks. That one song grew into most of the Dogs' 11-song Mustang Driving Mama CD.

We also share an Abenaki heritage that Kris and I similarly discovered later in life. As "Distant Roots," Kris and I will be writing and recording a collection of original Native American/American Indian-related songs for a future CD.  

Kris makes his home in Newport, New Hampshire.

"SMOKIN' JOE" LEPORE

Joe joined The Rockin' Road Dogs on drums in 2005, and continues to play an important part in the band. Joe was born and raised in Medford, Massachusetts, but has called New Hampshire home for many years. He now lives in Hampstead, New Hampshire. 

We first met in 2004, as members of a contemporary music choir at a church in Litchfield, New Hampshire. We clicked musically, and soon formed the contemporary Christian group CrossRoads. Besides providing the drive and beat for CrossRoads, he also contributed a great Jazz-flavored original song titled "Swing High".

When the Dogs' formed a year later, Joe was our first choice for drummer, and he jumped at the opportunity to join the group. He can be heard on the CrossRoads CD, from 2005, and on the 2006 Rockin' Road Dogs CD titled "(She's My) Northern Girl".

"HAWK DAWG" HAWKAN FORSBERG

Hawkan “Hawk Dawg” Forseberg brings a true international element to the Dogs.

Hawk was born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, and now lives Australia. His musical journey began when he picked up a guitar for the first time at about eight years old.

His first band was a hard rock trio named NHL, derived from its members names – Nils-Hawkan-Leif. Its music was influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Mountain, mixed with original songs “that used to last forever,” Hawk said. Hawk moved to Australia the first time in 1978, immersed himself in the acoustic guitar, and tried without success to learn fingerpicking.

He returned to Sweden in 1981, had a fling with the fiddle “but couldn't stand my cat gutting squeals,” he said. “I got a mandolin for my 30th birthday. That was me!”

Hawk played mando in a Swedish bluegrass band named Peanuts, “or as I wanted to call it ‘The Cackaphonics’,” he said.