DICK GAUGHAN
DICK GAUGHAN
(May 17, 1948)
DICK GAUGHAN (May 17, 1948, Glasgow) is a Scottish musician, singer, and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs.
Gaughan took up the guitar at the age of seven. Although he later sang in Scottish Gaelic, he is not fluent in that language; he does, however, have a powerful command of Scots. Gaughan sang in Edinburgh folk clubs and became a professional musician in 1970, playing mainly traditional songs on an acoustic guitar. He now writes his own songs as well as performing those of others. Although his approach to performing focuses on the words to the songs, Gaughan is also known as a master of the acoustic guitar. An example of his purely instrumental work is Coppers and Brass (1977).
Gaughan has many and various influences. In his guitar playing one can detect the influence of Doc Watson, Davy Graham and Bert Jansch, but he also claims to have been influenced by musicians as diverse as Hank Williams and Seán Ó Riada. His songs have been recorded by Billy Bragg, Mary Black, Jessica Haines & Mark Kaiser and Capercaillie amongst many others. He has also recorded extensively as a session musician.
Gaughan’s interest in composition and orchestration has led to two orchestral commissions from the prestigious Celtic Connections festival: Timewaves (Lovesong to a People’s Music) in 2004 and, in 2007, his first symphonic work, Treaty 300, a musical examination of the effects of the Treaty of Union of 1707 on Scottish culture composed for the inaugural concert of the Celtic Connections Youth Orchestra.