Skinz Skinsacos grew up in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, and now calls Baltimore home. His guitar roots run deep in the heavy blues-driven rock of Aerosmith, AC/DC, Montrose, and Free, while also pulling power from heavier legends like Black Sabbath, Pantera, and Metallica, along with the 80’s hard rock energy of Ratt, Dokken, and Def Leppard. Those influences all come alive in the wide range of projects he plays with today.
With his band Race The Rat, Skinz delivers raw, hard-hitting rock steeped in grit and bluesy swagger, powering his Gibson Les Pauls with Donovan Skinz Spartan, Hydra, and Jimmy’s model pickups. He also channels his love for 80’s hard rock in American Jetset, a modern revival of that iconic sound that regularly shares stages with some of the era’s biggest names. For this project, Skinz turns to ESP guitars loaded with his signature Spartan and Hydra pickups.
Never one to sit still, Skinz also thrashes it up with The Methmatics, a punk cover band that reimagines 80’s pop hits with breakneck energy, using LTD guitars equipped with his signature Donovan pickups. He’s even stepped into doom/stoner rock, where the Spartan and Hydra models proved their versatility by delivering crushing punch and clarity. Rounding it out, Skinz switches gears as bassist for the Americana group Harlan County Kings—showing the full scope of his musical reach, all while keeping Donovan Pickups at the core of his sound.
"I love my Donovan Signature Skinz pickups! They give me exactly what I’m looking for in tone, clarity and punch without sounding overly compressed like a lot of high output pickups tend to be. I’ve got them in most of my stage guitars at this point and I’ll be installing them in more guitars in the very near future". - Skinz Skinsacos
