Tariq Hussain is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 and radio personality. Usually credited as Tariq he has released four albums in his musical career, is currently a host for CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...

, and a member of the eclectic musical ensemble Brasstronaut

Brasstronaut

Brasstronaut is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with roots in pop, rock, and jazz. They were formed in 2007. Their current line-up consists of Bryan Davies on trumpet, Edo Van Breemen on piano and vocals, Sam Davidson on clarinet and EWI, Tariq Hussain on lap steel & electric...

.

Tariq was born in Cowansville, Quebec

Cowansville, Quebec

Cowansville is a town in south-central Quebec, Canada, located on Lac Davignon north of the U.S. border. It is the seat of Brome-Missisquoi, a regional county municipality...

. His father, a Pakistani immigrant, was a Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 who asked that pop music be banned from the household. It was only after his father's death that Tariq began playing guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, at age 14. At Bishop's University

Bishop's University

Bishop's University is a predominantly undergraduate university in Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Bishop's is one of three universities in the province of Quebec that teach primarily in the English language...

, he studied theatre arts

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

. He started devoting most of his time to a music career upon moving to Calgary, Alberta

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

 in 1995.

In 1997, he was signed to EMI Music Canada

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

. His album The Basement Songs won critical acclaim, with music writers citing the maturity of the folk-rock songwriting, as the songs addressed issues of racism and religion. His best-known song, "Chevrolet Way", was a Canadian radio hit in 1997 and garnered him a Juno Award

Juno Award

The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...

 nomination for Best New Artist. His album, however, had sold only 10,000 copies, and he was released from his record contract. His subsequent independent release, While You're Down There included collaborations with Jules Shear

Jules Shear

Jules Mark Shear is a US singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Pittsburgh in 1952. Although he has had only one minor hit as a performer , he has recorded almost 20 albums to date...

 and with Charlotte Caffey

Charlotte Caffey

Charlotte Irene Caffey is an American rock and roll guitarist and songwriter, best known for her work in the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat."...

 of The Go-Go's.

For most of his musical career, Tariq was based in Calgary, but moved to Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 when he joined Radio 3.

He is presently a member (guitarist) with the Vancouver-based band Brasstronaut

Brasstronaut

Brasstronaut is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with roots in pop, rock, and jazz. They were formed in 2007. Their current line-up consists of Bryan Davies on trumpet, Edo Van Breemen on piano and vocals, Sam Davidson on clarinet and EWI, Tariq Hussain on lap steel & electric...

, which formed in 2007.

Discography

• Splat (1996) Independent
• The Basement Songs (1997) EMI Canada
• While You're Down There (2001) Independent
• Goodbye Lonely (2005) Independent

External links

• http://www.tariqmusiq.com
• Tariq Hussain CBC Radio 3
  CBC Radio 3
  CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...
  
  biography