One of Canada's most celebrated instrumentalists, Doug Cox loves "all things slides and strings" -- he's most renowned for his skill on the Dobro resonator guitar, but he's also a sure hand on the bottleneck guitar, National steel guitar, Weissenborn, mandolin, and Mohan Veena. A native of Cumberland, a village on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Cox began playing guitar in the '80s, and was playing slide guitar in the bottleneck style until he saw a performance by Dobro virtuoso Jerry Douglas in the late '80s. Immediately inspired by the Dobro's unique tone and Douglas' expert touch, Cox bought a Dobro the next day, and began devoting up to five hours a day to mastering the instrument. By 1993, he had released his debut solo album, Canadian Borderline, and from the mid-'90s onward was an in-demand studio musician, sitting in on sessions with such artists as the Irish Rovers, Bob Bossin, Ken Hamm, Diamond Joe White, Michael Messer, and Rick Henry, among many others. Cox's résumé also includes recordings and performances with actor and folksinger Ronnie Cox, British blues legend Long John Baldry, and Canadian roots guitar icon Amos Garrett. Cox had the honor of being the first Canadian artist to appear at Dobrofest, a festival celebrating the Dobro guitar held in Trnava, Slovakia, the town where the Dopyera Brothers (who invented the instrument) were born. In addition to his solo work, Cox has recorded collaborative projects with a number of artists. In tandem with April Verch, Tony McManus, and Cody Walters, he formed the Gypsy folk quartet Strung. Cox also cut two albums with blues guitarist Todd Butler, two with vocalist Bettysoo, four with guitar picker Sam Hurrie (including 2017's Old Friends), and two with Indian musicians Salil Bhatt and Ramkumar Mishra. When not busy performing and recording, Cox is also the musical director of the Vancouver Island Music Fest. ~ Mark Deming