Audio showreel for Ewan’s current projects:
Videos:
‘Terrific set of blues songs performed with zest and wit. Great night out.’ – Ian Rankin
The Black Diamond Express are an eight-piece band from Leith, Edinburgh. Who fittingly take their name from a train that was the subject of Rev A. W. Nix 1927 sermons. Their sound is essentially an amalgamation of Celtic and American roots styles. But rather than be an imitation of some bygone era, they offer an inventive take on the old music and collectively produce a sound that is truly theirs alone, the personification of the aforementioned fast flying vestibule. Ewan originally acted as the stand-in guitar player for about a year back in 2007/8 and took over bass full time in 2008. Since then he has climbed the ranks and taken over management of the band helping them to reach new heights of success including opening for The Mavericks and The Magic Band as well as a Canadian tour in 2014. The band have been recording four EP’s and are due to begin releasing them summer 2017.
“An outstanding and awesome outfit…” – Music News
Damo Suzuki is the legendary front man of sixties Krautrock giants Can. He tours continually around the world performing what he prefers to call instant composition. Having persuaded a local booking agent from Cab Voltaire to book Damo and leave the band up to Ewan, he set about finding some of the most creative musicians he knew. The results can be seen in this surprisingly good quality video bootleg (an official stereo mix was taken from the desk but due to gain malfunction the audio was unusable). To this day the cameraman has ignored all email request for more footage despite his channel remaining active since.
“While Suzuki clearly has some kind of framework that allows him to sing over the top of pretty much everything, it’s the repetitive rhythms and rising crescendos of the band that count. Remove Suzuki’s babble from the picture, and you’re left with some pretty nifty post-rock soundscapes. With the master leading the way, however, there are flashes of genius that go beyond fantasy-wish-fulfillment.”
The Herald, July 27th 2010