The Dogs

Dave Catron has been playing bass guitar as long as he can remember. He has enjoyed a broad and rich career starting in the late 60s with appearances on television, work as a session player, and playing as a touring musician.

While with Vanguard Records, Dave made television appearances on The Real Don Steele Show, Ninth Street West, and Headshop. As a session player contracted by Capital Records, he was involved in sessions for Columbia Motion Pictures. During his association with CBS/Epic and Mercury Records recording artist Michael Fennely, Dave toured with Bad Company, the James Gang, Jo Jo Gunne, Foghat, the New York Dolls, Johnny Nash, Canned Heat, and many others. He also toured with United Artist Records artist Joanne Mackell. That tour included dates with Bill Champlin, the Greg Kihn Band, and Blood Sweat & Tears. Other session work in which Dave was involved included sessions with Joe Lala, Frosty (Lee Michaels' drummer), and Claudia Linnear (Joe Cocker's backup singer). He has also had the pleasure of performing with Mary Wells, Dave Mason, and The Velcros.

Dave brings to The Dogs a very deep and wide musical background that, along with his bass guitar skills, includes solid backing vocals. His precision to detail and inventiveness help give The Dogs their sound.

Frank started out playing drums in the 3rd grade. He then moved to the tenor sax in the 5th grade and, finally, found a guitar at age 10 due to his neighborhood rival who could play a mean version of "Born on the Bayou". That first guitar, a Teisco del Rey with 4 pickups, was his pride and joy until his dad bought him a guitar for $550 bucks. Frank still uses that used '72 Les Paul Custom today. Frank spent the same years with Matt Snyder in the award winning Bonita Jazz Band learning those 10 dollar jazz guitar chords. Frank, however, was always more drawn to the blues and rock influences. Matt and Frank founded Thin Ice, a band which headlined many clubs throughout the Southland, including the gigs at the legendary Troubador & the Hollywood Bowl during the band's hayday. Thin Ice went through many incarnations throughout the years. They produced original music, some of which Frank wrote or collaborated on, and they opened for bands such as Seals & Croft, Savoy Brown, Johnny Hammond and others.

If you were married in the 80s in Southern California, or visited your local Elks Club for a function, there is a pretty good chance that Frank was in the band playing at it. Picture him in a tux and mustache and you just might recognize him. Frank calls these lost years his "casualty" years. (And you wonder why the Dogs don't take requests or play "Mustang Sally" and "Brown Eyed Girl"!) Now consider that Frank is still known to pop up at such obscure gigs as playing blues with Deacon Jones at the world famous Babes & Ricky's in LA, it makes you wonder where you might find him and one of his 9 guitars next. The logical answer according to Frank is at the next Dogs gig because, in Frank's experience, there is no better marriage than this blend of talented musicians.

There is not enough room on this website to completely cover the experience that Phil Jones brings to The Dogs. If it was not true, it would sound like name dropping, but Phil has played with the biggest names in rock 'n' roll, from members of Led Zeppelin, The Who, Rolling Stones, and Eagles to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Neil Young.

Phil started his career in the late 60s with the band Crabby Appleton. In the early 70s, they had a top 40 hit called "Go Back". AllMusic.com rates their debut album with 4 1/2 out of 5 stars, a classic. He played with various other musicians through the mid 70s until his big break as the percussionist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. From 1979 to 1983, Phil toured with and played on all of Tom Petty's recordings. During a lull with the Heartbreakers in the late 80s, Tom recorded his biggest selling album, Full Moon Fever, with Phil on drums.

Since then, Phil has played live or in the studio with the following artists: Roy Orbison, Joe Walsh, Waddy Wachtel, Neil Young, J.D. Souther, Terry Reid, Randy Newman, Cracker, Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Blondie Chaplin (Beach Boys, Rolling Stones), Bernard Fowler (Rolling Stones), Keith Richards, the late Mike Canipe (John Fogerty), Marc Ford (Black Crowes), Rick Rosas (Neil Young, Joe Walsh), Jason Sinay, Roger Daltrey (The Who), Daryl Jones (Rolling Stones), Bobby Womack, George Clinton, Jack Tempchin, Johnny Rivers, the late Nicky Hopkins, Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones), and Stacy Michelle Plunk (Kid Rock), to name a few. He has played on more than 50 albums as a drummer or a percussionist. For a partial listing, you can check out his website.

If that wasn't enough, he has also produced some independent album projects and has done some soundtrack work.

The Dogs are pleased and honored to have Phil call himself a Dog.

Hard to believe but Matt Snyder is a self-taught piano player. He started at age 10 and was in his first band by the time he was 12. He began playing professionaly at 16.

Matt was fortunate to have attended Bonita High School (BHS) in La Verne, California. During his high school years, there was a huge emphasis in the jazz music department at BHS. He was the pianist for the BHS Jazz Ensemble from 1976 to 1978 and received the following awards as the pianist: Outstanding Piano Soloist at the Monterey Jazz Festival (High School Competition), awards for musicianship from The National Association of Jazz Educators (NAJE), "Who's Who Among American High School Students" for musical acheivement 1977 to 1978, co-recipient of "Sweepstakes Award" for both Monterey and Reno International Jazz Festivals, and the Gordon Goodwin Jazz Award from Bonita High School.

If playing in the high school Jazz Ensemble wasn't enough, Matt was in the rock band Thin Ice, along with future Dog Frank Hanson. Thin Ice won 2nd place in the 1977 Battle of the Bands at the Hollywood Bowl. They wrote original songs, recorded, and performed at numerous clubs throughout Southern California from 1977 to 1982.

After marrying his high school sweetheart, Annemarie, Matt honed his chops by working five nights a week from 1983 to 1985, playing with local legend Ray Farr in his band Clockwork. Shortly after his stint with Ray Farr, Matt played numerous gigs around Southern California with the Tyrone Anthony Group from 1985 to 1995. He has also been a member of the local classic rock band The LCR Band since 1992.

Along with playing, Matt earned a degree in History and was a music consultant in the school district in which he lives. Along with playing in The Dogs, Matt is currently a middle school History teacher and founding member of the worship team at Sierra Vista Community Church. He is still married to his wife Annemarie and they have three boys, Evan, Brendan, and Grant.

Since he can remember, Steve has always loved music. He was exposed to jazz and classical music from his father and pop/rock music from the radio. He sang in the church choir while growing up and took piano lessons when he was 8 years old. The piano instructor not only taught Steve how to play the piano, but also music theory, which has stayed with Steve throughout his life.

He started banging on different sized boxes when he was 13 and got his first drum set when he was 15. He played his first junior high school dance when he was 16 and subsequently went on to being the "house band" for his high school for about 3 years. That band, Mac Pinch, went on to play at Gazzarri's in Hollywood and toured Hawaii for three months in 1977. Mac Pinch played Gazzarri's numerous times with Van Halen on the same bill. They also played local concerts in Pasadena and surrounding cities with Van Halen and other local bands. While in Hawaii, they played the Crater Festival with Styx, Journey, Flash Cadillac, and Elvin Bishop.

Upon returning from Hawaii, Steve was in a power pop band in Los Angeles for three years before becoming a member of David Ray & Country Deluxe. He played with them until 1982 when he became a member of Flip, a ground breaking Top 40 band in Southern California. In 1985, Steve graduated from college and joined the local classic rock band, The LCR Band, and has been a member ever since. He founded the country band The Austin Brothers in 1986 to play at the Los Angeles County Fair.

He has been married to Peggy Sturgis since 1987 and has four children, Brittany, Sarah, Matthew, and Michael.