Center Stage: An Abandoned Albums Podcast Episode 408 - Linus of Hollywood
Linus of Hollywood (Linus Dotson) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. The stage name comes from his early days in Los Angeles, where he frequently wore striped shirts similar to the Peanuts character Linus van Pelt.
At age 21, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. In 1995 Dotson started his professional career with the band Size 14, named after his shoe size. After releasing their self-titled album in 1997, the band broke up in 1998.
After Size 14, Linus began playing with and producing other artists and recording his work.
In 1999, Linus released his first solo album, Your Favorite Record, on his label, Franklin Castle Recordings. He performed nearly everything on the album, both instrumentally and vocally. He has since released four more albums: Let Yourself Be Happy (2001), Triangle (2006), Attractive Singles (2008), and Reheat & Serve (2008). The single for "A Girl That I Like" was released in 2011. Dotson released his fourth solo album in 2014, titled Something Good.
Linus has toured with guitar hero Paul Gilbert extensively, as well as working with artists like: Allstar Weekend, 5 Seconds of Summer, Mr. Big, Bowling for Soup, Cheap Trick, The Charlatans, Kim Fox, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lil' Kim, Nerf Herder, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. (of Jellyfish), Puff Daddy, and The Smashing Pumpkins.
Dotson co-wrote the theme song for Nickelodeon's School of Rock and also wrote music for the show. His solo music has been included in the TV shows Weeds, Californication, and The New Normal. He also appeared as an actor in the season finale episode of The New Normal and performed in an episode of TNT's Rizzoli & Isles.
Yea, he’s done a lot.
Linus is currently on tour in Japan with Able Machines.
LINKS
“Scarified” - Linus shredding with guitar legend Paul Gilbert