Rowshan was born in Tabriz and grew up in Tehran, Iran
playing traditional Azeri and Persian music on the accordion
and drum (Azeri naghara, tef and gosha naghara) with his
family. His father, renowned tar player/composer Behruz
Dowlatabadi frequently opened his house to visiting musicians
from Iran and around the world (including Chile and Palestine).
As a child, Rowshan enjoyed searching for interesting world
music on the shortwave radio. In 1992, he moved to Istanbul,
Turkey to pursue a degree in Computer Engineering at Bosphorus
University. While performing Azeri music with his brother
at The James Joyce Irish Pub, he got hooked on traditional
Irish music. Soon he was playing bodhran and accordion with
the pub's house band. In 1998, he and some friends formed
VIP (Very Important Potatoes) playing Celtic, Turkish and
Blues music. Then, in 1999 the band name was changed to
merging Celtic, Turkish, Balkan and Scandinavian
music. Other projects include appearances with Balkan accordionist
; music with his father for the for the documentary
"Last Caravan of the Silk Road" by Paxton Winters; music
with his wife for the documentary "Turkey and the EU" by
Zarife Ozturk; and a guest appearance on the album Caravan.
After graduating from the university, Rowshan moved to the
United States. While in Seattle, he played Irish music for
the Canadian Consulate, at numerous Irish sessions and at
the Seattle Center. In 2002, he moved to San Diego. Rowshan
started played accordion and percussion with Skelpin between
2004-2007 and appeared on their album RUA / ROJO.
He also performed with Group Anatolia, a Turkish folkloric
group located in San Diego. He is interested in making and
repairing musical instruments. He collects pins (for his
hat) and world music records.
