Paul Tasker
Paul’s musical inspiration came hearing Bert Jansch in a Glasgow working men’s club in the early 1990s. Paul subsequently went on to win a ‘Danny Kyle Award’ at Celtic Connections in 2004 as guitarist and songwriter for Aberdeen based band Sal. Since 2006, he has been half of Doghouse Roses with Iona McDonald, one of Scotland’s most acclaimed pairings, delivering intimate and warm songs featuring Tasker’s superb picking skills. Paul has also founded his own teaching business, with studios in Glasgow’s Hidden Lane. He recently appeared in the BBC4 programme Smashing Hits: The ’80s pop roadmap of Britain and Ireland demonstrating the similarities between folk music and country music.
Roadtrippin’
A piece by Paul Tasker for Bert Jansch
“I wrote Roadtrippin’ a few years ago on various borrowed guitars during a trip to the US. Bert’s approach to form and composition is the inspiration for the three distinct sections which make up the tune. Bert’s music has been such a defining factor on my own playing that most of what I play has been influenced by his music to some degree. When I first heard Bert on ‘It Don’t Bother Me’ I just thought; where did those melodies come from; how did he play those all those notes while singing.”
Paul’s 2016 solo instrumental CD, Cold Weather Music was described as “An album of absolute art” by the Liverpool sound and vision music blog, with R2 magazine calling it a “sublime collection”. A follow up instrumental album is planned for Autumn 2020. Doghouse Roses have released four critically acclaimed albums and tour regularly across the UK and Europe.