About Paul Pinon
Paul Pinon is originally from El Paso, Texas. He moved to Austin several years ago to pursue a career in music, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Performance from The University of Texas at Austin. Paul has tremendous versatility as a musician, having played jazz, rock, soul, polka, New Orleans 2nd line, and heavy metal. He studied tabla in the Hindustani style for a year with Gourishankar Karmakar, played in the Tabla ensemble while at UT, and was the drum set player in Karmakar’s Indian Fusion band for a time.
In addition to teaching, Paul continues to perform throughout the country. He primarily plays with Clint Manning, Oliver Rajamani, and Memphis Kee, the last of which won the Austin Live Music Grant in 2024 and was featured in Rolling Stone magazine in January 2026. Paul has also performed and/or recorded with Dreamboat, Interrobang, Cari Quoy, Curtis McMurtry, and many more! Paul studied performance and composition with the fantastic educator Wayne Salzmann II, as well as John Fremgen, John Mills, Tony Edwards, Steven Slawek, Gourisankar Karmakar and Russell Pinkston’s Electronic Music Studio.
Paul has been teaching privately for over 20 years. He equips his students the tools to be a successful musician while learning to play the music that inspires them. Whether his students are just picking up an instrument for the first time or preparing for music as a career, Paul aims to equip them with a wide skill set built on solid fundamentals. Paul ensures every student studies proper technique, in depth listening and analysis, and music transcription, gains competency in a variety of musical styles, learns the history of drumming, and finds confidence in their own playing.
