Bio

He has been called the 'Jimi Hendrix' of the Caribbean', a title that Ian Alleyne or 'Eyan' would be the first to admit is "way too heavy to carry around". Nevertheless, for more than twenty years, the dread-locked musical genius has been thrilling audiences with his very imaginative style of playing, every time that he steps on stage with a guitar. It is his explosive guitar solos which have captivated audiences world-wide and cemented his reputation as the foremost exponent of the instrument in the Caribbean. "I try to give more than 100% of myself every time I play", he says of his seemingly intimate relationship with his instrument, "I really get into my solos and everyone seems to remember them, but then I'm also very into my rhythm playing even though it's not as flashy". He says he is influenced by many great guitarists, many genres of music such as rock, jazz, funk, rhythm & blues - and of course being a Caribbean man carries with it a unique influence and a distinctive inspiration. Eyan transposed his early natural affinity for music into a full time involvement in the art-form, starting with live performances in night-clubs across Barbados, and later as a studio professional, In fact, it was in one such studio session that he met reggae superstar and producer Eddy Grant, who immediately invited Eyan on his tour of the Eastern Block countries, followed by visits to Cuba, Bermuda, England, Europe and Arab Emirates. This led to Eyan becoming Grant's first call studio guitarist for his Blue Wave Studio productions. It was his energetic and animated live performances, however, that got Eyan a gig touring with British rock-funk band Roachford, whose lead singer, Andrew Roachford, saw him performing in Barbados, and promptly offered him the role of guitarist in his band. This association resulted in tours of England and Europe, where Eyan met and recorded with British songstress Des'ree on her debut album. He also performed live with Des'ree in France and throughout England, often being her only accompaniment on acoustic guitar. "Working with Des'ree got me back into playing acoustic, which is a totally different discipline to the electric - it's not very forgiving!" He grins. Back home, Eyan is the most recorded guitarist in Barbados having done extensive recording work at Ice Studios (Eddy Grant), Chambers Studio (Grammy Award Nominee producer Nicholas Brancker), Monstapiece Studio (Peter Coppin) and Slam City Studio (Chris Allman). When he is not recording in his own Aasramam Studio, he is often busy performing and touring. Eyan has also recorded on several compilations in the Caribbean and is constantly writing new material in different genres. "I write party music which reflects our Caribbean culture on the one hand, and alternative type music which is geared more towards guitar performance on the other." He launched his first album "Against the Grain" at the Barbados Jazz Festival 2001, where he received top billing and in April 2005, Eyan released his second album Relatively Unknown with a launch at Cool Jazz - series 3, 2005. "The music on this album is a more of a uniform theme - where the songs were all written (under the Almond Tree ) over a short period... It's different but it could easily have been called 'Against The Grain Part 2' because it's still not what is typically recorded in Barbados". When asked where he wants to go with his music, Eyan responds, "I want my music to influence and be played by people all over the world".And to this end Eyan recently perfomed songs from his album Relatively Unknown at this year's Barbados On The Water festival in Toronto Canada where he was well received by a highly mixed audience. At home Eyan continues to write and record in his Aasramam Studio ,working with both young and seasoned artistes.