doghouse roses

This Broken Key Release October 18th. Full information at the

Doghouse Roses Website



Paul Tasker and Iona Macdonald started playing music together soon after meeting in late 2005. Tasker’s inspiration to play the guitar came after hearing legendary guitarist Bert Jansch in a Glasgow working men’s club in the early 1990s. He subsequently went on to win a ‘Danny Kyle Award’ at Celtic Connections in 2004 as guitarist and songwriter for Aberdeen based band Sal. Iona Macdonald’s increasing reputation has led to her being much in demand as a session singer, and in 2008 she performed with Howe Gelb and the Pilgrim Road Orchestra on the Willard Grant Conspiracy Pilgrim Road tour



Tasker & Macdonald formed Doghouse Roses in 2006, after one too many nights drinking red wine and listening to Pentangle, Fairport Convention and Gillian Welch records. Since then they have played many shows in the UK and Europe. They also started their own record label, Yellowroom Music, on which they have released one single, two EPs and a full length CD, distribution being handled by Proper Distribution.



Their first recording together, the eponymous ‘Doghouse Roses EP’ was voted runner up in the Best Single/EP of the Year category of the Fatea Records annual awards in 2006. Subsequently, Doghouse Roses were runner up only to Spiers and Boden in the band / duo of the year category at the same awards in 2008. Most recently the duo have spent time in the studio with 1960s icon Nick Garrie, working on his new album ‘49 Arlington Gardens’ his first in 40 years since the release of the ‘lost classic’, ‘The Nightmare of J B Stanislas’. This recording also features Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub and Duglas T Stewart of the BMX Bandits.



Equally inspired by Scottish and American folk music and the influences these have on their own writing, this relationship is being explored in a series of EPs called ‘Folk & Blues’. These EPs typically feature two traditional Scottish songs, two traditional American songs and two original compositions, and showcase Doghouse Roses' unique contemporary take on traditional music. ‘Folk & Blues Part 1’ was recorded in two days in 2007, while ‘Folk & Blues Part 2’ is to be released in December 2009 containing songs such as ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ and ‘Both Sides of the Tweed’ and was recorded in a small hall on the Scottish borders, overlooking the River Tweed



A full length CD, ’How’ve you Been (all this time)?’ was released in January 2009, and coincided with Doghouse Roses sold out appearance at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow. Featuring ten original songs, the album was recorded with noted composer and producer Malcolm Lindsay, who has previously written and arranged for The Delgados and The Willard Grant Conspiracy. Among numerous credits for TV and film music, Lindsay scored the Ewan MacGregor film, ‘Young Adam’ along with David Byrne. Notable guest musicians featured on the record include the Scottish National Opera’s principle cellist Robert Irvine, ex-Cappercaillie percussionist, Wilf Taylor, Willard Grant Conspiracy Fiddle player, Josh Hillman, and the record was mixed by engineer extraordinaire Alan Scobie. This release was supported by a month long tour of the Netherlands and Germany, including a radio session on national Radio3FM in the Netherlands and an in-store appearance at Michelle Records in Hamburg.



In 2009 alone Doghouse Roses have played over a hundred and forty live shows including a ten date tour of Slovenia and Croatia in June and a forty-five date European tour in September / October involving gigs in eleven countries. In the last eighteen months they have played at Popkomm, Berlin; Celtic Connections, Glasgow; Take Root Festival, Gronigen, Edinburgh International Fringe Festival, and collaborated with the Willard Grant Conspiracy and Chris Eckman



all enquiries: info (at) doghouseroses.org



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