Doug C and the Blacklisted

With his stripped-down high energy approach to the traditional roots sound, Doug Carrion ( Doug C and the Blacklisted) has never strayed far from his independent musical roots. From punk rock to country music, like his idols, Doug has never played by any rules; consequently, he never dominated the charts like his post Nirvana contemporaries. On each of his records, he twists around the form enough to make the music seem like his own. Appropriately, his core audience is composed mainly of independent music fans, not a mainstream audience. Nevertheless, he continues to explore music, and has remained one of the most respected and adventurous recording artists and performers currently on the music scene.

Born in New York but raised in Hermosa Beach, Ca, Carrion learned how to play guitar at the age of 15. As a child, he listened to his mother's record collection, honing in on the everything from 50’s music, West Coast jazz, to traditional country music as well as the Bakersfield honky tonk of Buck Owens. When he was in high school, Carrion played with a variety of bands, playing in everything from garage bands to rockabilly. After completing high school, Carrion briefly attended El Camino College, but he dropped out to focus on becoming a recording artist / performer.

At this time in Hermosa Beach, the town was in the throes of a rapidly growing punk rock movement. While in Hermosa, he met Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson who shared a similar taste in music. In L.A and nationally, Doug played the same nightclubs that punk and post-punk rock bands like X, the Dead Kennedys, Los Lobos, and the Blasters did. What Doug had in common with rock bands X and the Blasters was similar musical influences; they all drew from '50s rock & roll and country and independent artists. In comparison to the polished music coming out of Los Angeles, Carrion’s pop sensibility and do it yourself approach seemed radical. Playing on shows with cowpunk bands, as they were called, provided an invaluable view into the possibilities of roots music.

By mid 2003 after logging countless miles, tour dates, recording sessions and record deals, Doug stepped off the road and into the studio to write music
for film and television, which also provided an important time to focus on the craft of songwriting.

In 2013, Carrion found himself writing more traditional roots based songs drawing from influences of folk, country, and mountain music and decided to go back to the bandstand performing under the name Doug C and the Blacklisted with a high energy roots, country, rockabilly, hillbilly project. From 2014 - 2015 Doug released 4 groundbreaking EP’s. Doug C and the Blacklisted, West Coast, Rockin, and Hillbilly Stomp. 3 of the EP’s stayed on the iTunes New and Noteworthy charts for up to 12 weeks at a time. To support the releases, he began performing nationally at most of the major outdoor car shows and festivals like Ink N Iron Nashville with Merle Haggard to a variety of club dates with bands like Big Sandy, The Delta Bombers, The Chop Tops, The Paladins and Three Bad Jacks. From Sept 2014 to Sept 2015 Doug C and the Blacklisted traveled over 15,000 miles performing and developing his roots music approach. 

Musically, Doug C and the Blacklisted fall under the americana roots banner, internationally gaining fans that appreciate traditional country music like Dale Watson, and Hank Williams Sr to the old time revival scene like Avett Brothers and Old Crow Medicine Show.