Ian Pellow, a common name for a common person ? No, not even close. The name may be common but the man surely isn't. Ian had hidden talents which have creatively surfaced a couple of years ago with this brilliant freshly released debut CD as a result. Born in Montreal in 1961, he was a nice cute kid (as his mother will proudly confirm). He grew up influenced by the music his older brother Boyd was listening to - Chicago, Zappa, the Allman Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, Jaco Pastorius... to name but a few of the extensive list of quality musicians/songwriters who helped to shape Ian's musical style and direction. His father was a concert musician who played 1st Viola at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore and San Antonio Symphony in the States before becoming a music teacher back in Canada. And what do you do when your father is a music teacher... you learn music as soon as you can reach the keyboard of the piano or your fingers can curl around the neck of a guitar... Ian started off with the piano at the age of 6, followed by the trumpet 2 years later and persisted with that for 10 years. At 15 his interest in bass was born after getting a Mansfield driftwood bass. Having Peter Cetera -Chicago- as his example, he taught himself how to play bass. A couple of bass guitars further... ... in 1980 a nice tax refund cheque dropped through the mailbox and it was spent on a B301AF Guild fretless bass. It was money well spent ! Ian toured Montreal with his brother and local bands but when Ian started working, employment took up all his time and the music was put on the shelf. It kept lingering ... as any true musician knows. Around 1997 he acquired a Rhodes piano, a Yamaha 4-track, a cheap Casio keyboard to play the drums and started writing music but his heart was not in it. In 1999 life took a turn in an unexpected direction. Ian met his Belgian life mate. With just his fretless bass and a suitcase, he plunged into the unknown and has since emerged, 5 years later, having moved to Scotland, happy, writing, performing and recording as never before. The move to the beautiful Highlands has proved a very inspiring and creative one. The Yamaha 4-track was replaced with the Boss BR-8 and then again by the BR1180CD on which this debut album has been recorded. The Rhodes piano had to remain in Canada as the transport costs were a little too much to be true and replaced by a Korg M1. Not exactly the same but doing the job. An extra Guild - De Armond guitar joined the instruments family and some professional drum loops were purchased from Discrete Drums. Marti Who ? slowly but surely started shaping up. In just under 6 months the songs rolled off the BR1180 unto the press. This CD is very likely to pleasantly surprise you with its diversity. None of the songs seem what they are and unexpected changes take you to other dimensions. Dora's Auras ethereal beginnings let you wonder and drift away on a jazzy breeze, dragging you into the heavier rock grooves of Funkaduck. Then there is the dramatic outcry of the guitars in Samba Not, the energetic Marti Who ? with the bass taking on a life of its own. Nothing needs to be said about Jaco's Wake... tears in the eyes, memories of a great brilliant musician, long gone. Think of a loved one moved away, nothing left but memories... passionate feelings of the ungraspable past... Passionaire... yearning bass and guitars ... Bringing you to changes, changes and more changes in Meaty Changes. George... the omnipotent lemming hops happily around in the exotic garden of gentle guitar lines. No.8, waiting for the train, watching the misery all around. Heavy hungry guitar and compassionate bass lines... All in all, this is a wonderful debut album from a multi-instrumentalist worth a place in your collection ! Some reviews generated freshly after the release : "I listened to your CD and threw it right on again. It is absolutely great - I had the feeling that you were a great musician, but I am honestly overwhelmed. I felt like being back in the 70ies with a mixture of different sounds : Santana, Yes, Allman Brothers, Little River Band, etc." Gus - Aynimusic "Hey Ian,... Very classy site, Great classy sound'in CD. Love that bass playin dude. And man... I thought I was the only guy in townstill using the M-1. Guess not. :) All in All.. Great job man" Rick. (BR1180 usergroup) "Great sound Ian. You are obviously no naive 17 year old when it comes to your music which i may say posseses great depth and imagination and may also reflect your maturity and your many musical influences...Keep up the sterling work!" Cheers m`dears....Matt (BR1180 usergroup) "A Happy New Year to you! That's some great work you've done there. Some very fine playing and excellent use of the drum loops. Youv'e managed to get a very 'big' sound. I think the BR is an excellent machine and you've demonstrated it's potential very well!!" Cheers, Keep up the good work, Drew (BR1180 usergroup)