The Big Dogs

The Big Dogs are not your average sounding rock band. Perhaps considered Alternate-Rock or Alternate-Country, they play high-energy rock with a “twang”. All seasoned musicians, their signature sound is created with strong vocals, big guitars and hard hitting drums.

The band is anchored by songwriters KC Vinck on bass and lead vocals, and Marco Cocchiaro on guitar and vocals. KC and Marco have known each other since High School. Marco was born in Sao Paulo, Basil, KC in Charleston, West Virginia. They both located to South Florida when they were very young. They formed a song-writing team in the early 90's and have written more than 50 songs together since then. Marco's "metalbilly" guitar style and KC's strong vocals blended with Marco's high harmonies produced The Big Dogs unique sound. An Outlaw's Song, a song written by KC and Marco and released on “Warning! The BIG DOGS Inside” (a 5 song demo CD), won the “The Great Sound Search” contest hosted by the Miami Herald.

The Big Dogs write songs about life’s simple pleasures, human emotions and stories that are easy for everyone to relate to. The band’s general market seemed to be rockers, bikers, rednecks and your average working men. The fan base provided from their strong internet presence and live performances has been more diverse. They have accumulated fans of all ages (12 –69), genders, genres (rock, country, southern-rock, classic rock, pop rock, adult cotemporary, Alternate), occupations, and lifestyles, not only around the country but from around the world.

HISTORY
The idea for "The Big Dogs" name came from a phrase Marco used to describe something that demanded attention. If the electric was going to be shut off the electric bill became the "Big Dog". The band's lead singer and bassist, KC Vinck, remembers when they were kids another band asked to play a couple of songs at one of their gigs. "They turned our amps to 11 and kicked ass. Every since then I wanted my band to be the Big Dog at the show". This name reflects the persona KC and Marco strive to emulate at their live shows and with their songwriting.

The band was formed in 1991 and a few years later Marco and KC landed a spec deal with Quadradial studios in Miami and recorded 10 songs with former Georgia Satellites drummer, Mauro Megellan and Steve Parke formerly with recording artists Slyder on Hammond B-3.

The band performed in South Florida clubs for a while in the mid 90's with Elvis Barnett on guitar and Tom McWilliams on Drums. Elvis is a native South Floridian and an accomplished blues and rock guitarist. Tom, also a native South Floridian, is a muti-grammy award winner for writing and arranging with Gloria Estefan and Jon Secada. He also toured with Jon Secada as his drummer. Keith Cronin (Gypsy Queen, Pat Travers. Clarence Clemons) filled on occasion when Tom was away.

KC and Marco shopped the “Quadradial” demo in Nashville and even though there was some interest, no record deal was secured. The general consensus was that the The Big Dogs were too rock for country at the time. With no promising situations at hand, everyone started pursuing other interests and the band went dormant around 1998.

In 2004 the band was revived. KC, Marco, Tom and Elvis put together a mix of classic rock covers (played in The Big Dogs style) and originals and started booking live gigs again. In March 2005 they released for sale "Warning! Big Dogs Inside" CD with 5 songs from the Quadradial sessions on it. It was around that same time that Dave Stumacher joined the band. Dave is a talented guitar player and vocalist who is originally form New York. He's also plays bass when KC fronts the band, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, keyboards and basically adds whatever the band is missing.

2007 produced the latest personnel change when Glen Wexo took over drummer duties from Tom. Tom's involvement became limited when he was hired to help develop Lauren Harris, daughter of Iron Maiden's bass player Steve Harris, become a performing artist. He is also going out on tours all over the world as the drummer for her band.

The Big Dogs continue to be very busy performing live shows and are actively recording new songs. The band is also enjoying the benefits of a strong internet presence. Fans can see photos and hear music samples on their web site, myspace or several band listing services such as Sonicbids, SoundClick.com, Digital Rodeo, last.fm, and Bandspace to name a few. Their CD is available from CD Baby, Towers Music and several other online stores and download services.