Alan Maskell grew up in Bath, England. After an uneventful childhood he discovered music , firstly in the form of the French Horn, followed by the trumpet, before settling on the guitar, much to the relief of his family and neighbours.
After playing in a few local youth club bands he left Bath for University, where he started song writing in earnest, and had some local success with the band Stolen Goods.
Post University saw the release of the single “Seventeen” and the formation of the band who became Ulterior Motives , where Alan was one of the main songwriters, contributing 60% of the bands material. The band played together ,mainly in Oxfordshire, for 30 years and released two CD’s Rooks and Simple Schemes which are still available from their Bandcamp site.
In 2010 Alan started writing again , and pursing a more acoustic solo path , gigging regularily around Bath and Bristol, and released 3 solo CD’s Ghost, The Lake, and the Winter ep, before heading off for the sunshine of Florida.
In Spring 2017 he released the “Live at Common Grounds” mini album recorded with Ted Fordney at Common Grounds Meeting Room in Northport Florida, as a stopgap between albums.
He continued writing and performing and completed , an album of new studio recordings , recorded partly in Florida , and partly in Mexico.. The album “Harvey” was released in May 2018. It marked a return to a much more electric album with a Rock/Pop feel, compared to his previous solo albums , harking back to the Ulterior Motives days.
2019 saw a return to the UK full time , and a move to Dorstone in Herefordshire near the Welsh Border.
2020 saw the release of a ,stripped down, back to the roots collection of new, and a few old ,Acoustic songs on the “Wildflowers” album. The album release was delayed by the impact of the pandemic but became available on streaming and download sites as well as a limited edition of CD’s .
As 2022 saw the return to an almost normal level of “live” music he can be found gigging around Herefordshire, Bristol and occasionally Oxfordshire .
“One Life ” a digital only album featuring songs recorded during lockdown periods with his American bass player, Ted Fordney, joining remotely, has now been released on Bandcamp.
2023 – The start of a move back to Oxfordshire , but a busy year for songwriting and a return to electric and acoustic gigs. Digital only release of a Best of solo compilation on Bandcamp – Solo 15 featuring 4 new tracks . New album project planned for Autumn 2024.