b. Thomas Jerome Pearse, 30th April 1962, Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.A.
Tashan is an exceptional first-rate soul and R & B vocalist.
He is a far superior vocalist than many of his current soul contemporaries, although he does not receive the respect that his vocal abilities obviously deserve.
Tashan's sound is, sometimes considered, too earthy and raw for the Urban Contemporary mainstream, yet not Southern and bluesy enough for the Southern market.
However, despite these musical obstacles, he is held in very high regard amongst soul purists, especially in the U.K.
As a child, Tashan's mother enrolled him in a local dance studio, with the intention of grooming him for stardom.
His mother took him out of school from time to time to take him into New York for various auditions, with Tashan becoming part of a group called Estelle and Alphonse's Dance Studio, performing before live audiences, which included impressions of Louis Armstrong!
Tashan's mother was the musical director of the families local church senior music group, whilst, at the same time,Tashan was singing in the Junior Choir from the age of 7.
When he turned 13 years of age, he gave up the music group, which led to the development of his musical skills...skills that led to his career break with Def Jam Records.
Tashan is also well-versed in hip-hop and rap, via his New York upbringing, with his Def Jam LP's including some fine duets with Alyson Williams.
He started off his recording career in the mid-'80's by writing and producing 'Yours for a Night', which was recorded by rappers Whodini (a group with which he still has close contacts).
Tashan was signed to Def Jam / Columbia in 1985 and 'Chasing A Dream' was released in 1986.
That outing was well received by the critics, with 'You've Got The Right Attitude', a duet with Alyson Williams, being popular with the soul purists.
Tashan's debut, also featured vocal input from Audrey Wheeler and Cindy Mizelle.
chasin' a dream - 1986 / on the horizon - 1989 / for the sake of love - 1993 / life goez on - 2003
'On the Horizon' followed in 1989 and contained the popular and socially aware track 'Blackman' along with the fine ballad 'Tears Of Joy'.
Surprisingly, neither attracted widespread major label interest, although these outings were highly popular in Europe amongst the 'real soul' circuit.
His third album, 'For The Sake Of Love' (seen by some as Tashan's equivalent to 'What's Going On'), was released in 1993, with 'All I Ever Do' and 'Romantically Inspired' being well received by the fans.
One track of note on the album was a duet with Pennye Ford, entitled 'Insane', that also appearred on Pennye's self titled album from 1993, and featured background vocal chores from Jocelyn Brown.
Tashan also covered the Leon Ware tune, 'I Want You', on the album, a track made famous by the late Marvin Gaye.
He is currently in the process of recording some new material and is looking for an outlet for the material.
Tashan performed to a sell out audience at the Fleetwood Soul weekender in the U.K. during the autumn of 2002.
For those of you who enquired after his mothers health (there were reports Mrs Tonie L. Graham was unwell), I am told that all is well with her, which is great news.
Tashan is a fine singer, whose music stands head and shoulders above many of his younger contemporary pretenders and is one of the sole (pardon the pun!) social musical commentators around. The World need these people.
By the way, Tashan no longer utilises the surname Rashad.
...or click here to see some images of his visit to Soulwalking!
Albums:
Chasin' A Dream (Def Jam Records 1986)
On the Horizon (CBS Records 1989)
For the Sake of Love (Sony Music Entertainment Records 1993)
The Best Of: A Retrospective 1986 - 1993 (Expansion Records 2002)
Life Goez On (Powerkingdom Records 2003)
