User:Vegasmba/sandbox/Dominick Muzio

Dominick Muzio, born May 5, 1975, is a musician known for his time in various New York area bands and now is the singer/guitarist for popular Las Vegas band Wicked Garden –A Tribute to the 90s.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Muzio graduated from Susan Wagner High School and then the Connecticut School of Broadcasting.

Inspired by his father, John, Dominick picked up the guitar as a teen and was influenced by Joe Perry, Jerry Cantrell and Brad Whitford. As a young teen, he hung around with local musicians including famed Guns & Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and learned to play by asking them for advice.

“I always sang, ever since I was a kid. I used to impersonate Elvis in the Catskills when I was 7 years old. I tried drums for a little bit. I started playing guitar after I realized I wanted to strangle every guitar player I ever met.”

As a singer, Muzio claimed Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger and Kurt Cobain as primary influences because of their raspy deliveries.

His musical career began with local bands including TSA and Head Rush, before becoming a member of a popular New York City based-band Lynx. Muzio joined the band in 1991 after the original singer was fired. Lynx was, according to Muzio, was on the cusp of the grunge scene and was much heavier than the hair metal bands that were popular during that time. They routinely played to sold out venues, even headlining the Concert in the Park Summer Series in New York, performing to over 6,000 people. The band was soon noticed by legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, and Frehley expressed interest in producing the band’s first album, but unfortunately was unable to.

Lynx eventually recorded an album on Big Mouth Records that sold well in the east coast area, receiving heavy radio airplay on WSIA and WSOU. They also served as an opening band for acts such as Peter Criss, Type O Negative and Love/Hate.

Muzio was fired from Lynx in 1993 over musical differences. He then formed Blues Messiah, which recorded one single, and then Hedonics. The band’s lone album, “Original Alternative Mainstream Sellout” was released on FDM records and three tracks were produced by Bumblefoot. The band entered negotiations with several major labels, but a series of mergers and shut downs in the record industry in the fall of 1996 left the band without a deal. "We were being shopped and courted by all these labels, and then they'd get bought out and they'd fire the one person at the company who loved us, and then we'd get a call that they were no longer interested. So after almost 2 years we were left with nothing. No deal, no money and a record that was dead in the water."

Disenchanted with the New York music scene, Muzio then moved to Florida to join his family. After a hiatus, he began playing in such Florida-based bands as Flat Broke and Chemical Tribe. He was offered a solo album deal, but turned it down, due to it being what his lawyer called " The worst record deal I have ever seen"

Muzio moved to Las Vegas in 2009 following a car accident and slowly became integrated into the city’s burgeoning rock scene, becoming the singer/guitarist for Soggy Harry for three years.

Eventually, Muzio joined the popular local band Wicked Garden as the lead singer/guitarist. He originally auditioned for the guitarist role, but convinced band members Jay Cee, Jay Dardano and Shawn Trojahn for another audition as the singer. The band plays across at numerous venues across the Las Vegas Valley.

Dominick also has worked as an actor, comedian and writer. He appeared on the VH-1 show " The World Series of Pop Culture" and is currently a co-host of an Internet radio show "Z'rockR Live"