IONA
Part two.

The band are to be playing 3 concerts in Germany in March 07 and one UK concert in a cave in Cornwall (!) in April. See our gigs page for details

March 23 - Altenkirchen
March 24 - Hattersheim
March 25 - Karlsruhe

Also in the UK: April 29th, The RumStore - Carnglaze Cavern, Cornwall. This is a unique venue - one not to be missed! More details coming soon.

On the Review Page of Circeling Hour you'll find great pictures of The Spirit of 66, November 2006.

Live at the St.George Church Leeds,
17th of November 2006.

Wonderful set, a magical atmosphere and truly powerful Celtic Prog Rock.
Althrough I are deeply moved by Joanas voice there are musicians in the band that can be put in the spotlight. The left handed Phil on bass is quite little fellow that is doing some great finger picking and maybe Frank van Essen on drums and violins is become an unbelieveable good force in this band. Oke let's mentioned the other to skilled craftsmen too: Dave Bainbridge, smiling, gentle and giving some solo's away like Stephen Hackett and the other guy is just magic... with cards, wedding rings, Ullian Pipes, bazouki and flutes.
Troy was apperently not used to be in a church, because he tought the painting behind the altar was taken from Woodstock... ;-)

 

The support act was done by the Celtic singer Mae McKenna. And she did a marvelous job. A few acoustic songs with her guitar and the last 2 songs accompanied by Troy & Dave.
Mae sung with Dave and Camel and a lot more artists.

 

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Review of Anthines 2006.
My son and I drove to the lovely village Anthines in Belgium. The towen was changed in a medival place, a hugh market, medival craftsmen, music everywhere. We walked up the hill to see if we could buy some tickets for the festival. The beautiful voice of Joanna was guiding us up to the hill, amazing. We walked in the tent and there they were, sound checking.
Her voice... believe I never heard something beautifull as that... so they got a warm applause from the two of us ;-)
Meeting Troy and the rest of the band is always good.

The Show.
Brilliant.. no more no less... absolutely #**#ing brilliant. Dave with his guitar, Troy on guitar Ullian Pipes and thin whistles, a wonderful rhythm section and Joanna... brilliant! She has an unbelieveable voice.
A splendid mix of Celtic, rock and some progressive tunes.
Go and see them you'll be amazed.

Afterwards chatting again.. thanks, see you soon!

Tom & Nick.

 

 

Photo's by Nick from The Spirit of 66 in Verviers.	Setlist September 23th 2004 The Spirit Of 66. 1. Flight of the wild Goose (instrumental from Iona '90) 2. Wave after Wave (Open Sky) Acoustic set: 3. Chi-Rho (Book of Kells) 4. Greenfields of Canada 5. Edge of the World (Beyond These Shores) 6. Jigs (with a great solo of Dave) 7. Today (Beyond These Shores) End of the acoustic set; 8. Inside my Heart (Journey into Morn) 9. The Search (Journey into Morn) 10.Factory of Magnificent Souls (new song about Nelson Mandela) 11.Encircling (Journey Into The Morn) 12.Strength (with a lot of echo on Joana's singing) 13.Wind of the Lake (new song) 14.Treasure (Joana on guitar Beyond These Shores) 15.Castlerigg (Open Sky) 16.Reels (Heaven Bright Sun) Encore: 17.Irish Day (Journey into Morn) 18.B-Se I Part II (Journey into Morn) 19.Woven Cords (Open Sky / Woven Cords)

Great Show! As support act there was a girl with an harp; Keltia. Lovely voice, music of the Middle Ages, nicely done. The act started impressive with one of their instrumental songs of their debut album. And then that voice... beautiful and amazing, it fits perfectly with the atmosphere Iona breathes. Iona, especially Joana, sends out sheer beauty and serenity. After a short acoustic set, the rock came back to their set and I must admit I liked that more as the acoustics. The studio-albums are really nice, but live they are more as really nice. When Dave comes loose on his guitar then it gives you shivers. Troy played wonderful on the uilleann pipes and he did some fighting with Dave's guitar. I think that combination, an authentic Celtic instrument mixed with great guitar work makes Iona so unique in the world of progressive music. Encircling was maybe one of the highlights of the evening, a real prog song, tempo changes, great guitar solo's, Troy at the top of his skills and Joana using her voice to the max. But there were more highlights such as the complex Woven Cords and B-Se I Part II. They played a lot of Journing in the Morn, but that album has even more songs that would worth to play. Joana had some nice conversations with the crowed and tried to speak French. Troy said: "Her French is for the Dutch who don't speak French...". So there was time to make some jokes. Frank and Phil did a great job on drums, violins, percussion and bass, a good matched rhythm section. Two new songs were played and were received well. Hopefully the band wil find some time to make an whole new album of it. Troy has an all-round musicianship and his playing is superb, the other band members have got that high craftsmanship too. This band hadn't perform life for more then two years, but they teamed up as a smooth thundering rock-band. A powerful mix of Celtic, Folk, Symfo and Rock, high quality Music!

Joana Hogg - vocals, keyboards, percussion and acoustic guitar Dave Brainbridge - guitars, bouzouki and keyboards Troy Donockley - ulliann pipes, low & tin whistle, guitars, bouzouki Frank van Essen - drums, percussion and violins Phil Barker - bass.

An interview with Troy Donockley. And a interview with Dave Bianbridge.

Troy - Frank - Phil - Joana - Dave. Photo by Anton van Kan / Drachten 25 September 04.

 

 

 

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SOLO PROJECTS & SESSIONS:

JOANNA HOGG:
Looking Into Light ('98), with;
Dave Bainbridge - Guitars, Keyboards, Bouzouki;
Troy Donockley - Uilleann Pipes, Low Whistles;
Phil Barker - Bass Guitar;
new IONA member - Frank van Essen - Percussion, Drums, Violin;
Nick Beggs - Fretless Bass, Chapman Stick;
Terl Bryant - Drums, Percussion;
Dave Fitzgerald - Flute, Tin Whistle;
Chris Redgate - Oboe and the Emperor String Quartet and not forgetting
Joanne's sisters Helen, Doreen and Muriel who join her on 'Brightest and Best'.

New Irish Hymns ('02) - Joanne Hogg, Margaret Becker, Maire Brennan Collaboration of these three unique singers with young Irish composer Keith Getty. Featured guest musicians include Phil Keaggy, Terl Bryant, Tim Harries and Troy Donockley. Shades of Riverdance!

Raphael`s Journey ('08).
NEW:
Album is now for sale, i t was avaiable as download, but now also as a ral album.

All the sales of this project will go to charities that help children in extreme poverty. One is called Adopt-a Child working in Guatemala, Albania and Egypt, one is a project called The Uganda Jesus Village which is part of the work of Freshfire Ministries, and another of the projects is Kingsway Music`s project called Ray of Hope working in the Amazon.

NOTE: This is initially only going to be available as a download. This is really to maximise the money generated, so please download this project and encourage others to purchase the download as well. Don`t encourage illegal copying!
Musically, this album is a collection of songs with a few instrumentals. Frank (Van Essen) has been working with me on this for several years not only as producer, but also co-writing and playing. There are beautiful performances from all my mates in Iona, gorgeous string arrangements from Frank, beautiful guest vocals from the amazing Moya Brennan and piano and vocals from myself......so, please download it and tell others about it. Check out www.raphaelsjourney.com or www.missionworship.com through Kingsway Music.

Mandalaband ('08/ '09), please check that out; stunning new project of David Rohl.

 

DAVID BAINBRIDGE:
In the mid 1980's to early 1990's, due to his association with the 'Norman Beaker' band, Dave was very active on the UK Blues scene. With the Norman Beaker band, Dave backed many visiting UK, US and European blues artists, both 'live' and on recordings for the 'Paul Jones Blues Show' on BBC Radio 2, including; Jack Bruce, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Paul Jones, Pete Brown, Phil Guy, Lowell Fulson, Lurrie Bell, Cary Bell, Rockin' Sidney, Guitar Shorty (Jimi Hendrix brother-in-law!), Louisiana Red, Colin Hodgkinson, Tony McPhee, Chris Farlowe, Herbie Goins, Fenton Robinson, Johnny Mars, Mick Abrahams, Ted Hawkins, Helen Watson, Angela Brown ...
Dave has also performed with Buddie Guy, Gloria Gaynor, 'Snake' Davis, Paul Jones, Phil Keaggy, Michael Ball (string arranging) and (through his work as Iona producer) Maire Brennan (Clannad) and Robert Fripp.

He and Debbie Bainbridge made an album Songs for Luca, to raise money for Luca who is autistic. 26 tracks in all, of which 10 are previously unreleased (these including an epic version of 'Matthew the Man - live in Tokyo 2001' and 'Beijing - widescreen remix' from IONA and other unreleased tracks from Dave Bainbridge, Bainbridge & Fitzgerald ('live' in Norwich Cathedral - 1998), The Flower Kings, Frank van Essen, Nick Beggs and Debbie Bainbridge - some of these especially written for Luca). Also features tracks by Rick Wakeman, Maire Brennan, Karnataka, Eden's Bridge, Joanne Hogg, Troy Donockley, Peter Fairclough Group, Mae McKenna, Terl Bryant, Jeff Johnson, Gentle Giant, Adrian Snell and Julie Tippetts. Rachel Jones is a guest: on 'Songs for Luca'.

Veil of Gossamer': is an awesome great album.

Dave Bainbridge: guitars, madolin, bouzouki, piano, keyboards, harp, percussion
Troy Donockley: uilleann pipes, tin whistle, guitars, low whistle, voice
Chris Hale: improvised vocals, wordless and Urdu (from Aradhna)
Joanne Hogg: vocals, voice loops (www.iona.uk.com/)
Rachel Jones: vocals, voice loops ( Karnataka)
Mae McKenna: vocals (Gaelic), voices
Nick Beggs : bass, fretless bass (played with; Iona, Steve Howe, Steve Hackett, Ellis, Beggs and Howard, John Paul Jones, Belinda Carlisle, Tina Turner!)
Frank van Essen: drums, percussion, violin
Pete Fairclough: percussion, gong
Tim Harries: bass (played with: Iona, Bill Bruford, Steeleye Span, Steve Howe, Eddi Reader, June Tabor, the LSO).
William Scofield: cello
Peter Whitfield: violin, viola.
You can download some excellent mp3-samples at www.iona.uk.com.
At you can read a review by me, with more info and an interview (planned).

New Album!
The new album from Troy and Dave Bainbridge will be available in the next few days! From Silence was recorded live in Lincoln Cathedral at the end of October. Details and soundbytes are in the Discography section of the website. Orders are already being taken for the album and Troy has agreed to sign the first 50 CDs ordered via the web-shop (which has had a new lick of paint) – so get in quick to avoid disappointment!
November 26.

SONGS FOR LUCA 2: Dave and Debbie report that they're getting a fantastic response from artists wanting to be involved in the album. Artists on board to date include:

Moya Brennan (Clannad vocalist) who's sent a beautiful exclusive track from a radio recording,
Dave Beegle (davebeegle.com) - a superb US guitarist,
Oliver Wakeman (son of Rick), with,
Steve Howe (!) with an acoustic folky song
Chasing the Monsoon - (splinter group from Karnataka),
Heather Findlay - ( lovely singer from Mostly Autumn),
Julianne Regan (wonderful vocalist from All About Eve , who's working on an exclusive track),
Kenso - fantastic Japanese progressive band,
Keith Baker - (US dulcimer player),
Jason Williams - (US guitarist, keyboardist) on a collaboration with Frank and Dave,
Richard John Thompson - (singer songwriter),
Nick Fletcher - guitar,
Roine Stolte - (wonderful Flower Kings guitarist) and .... (we hope)
Rick Wakeman - (keyboardist extraodinaire).
Morte info soon!

At 2hrs 20mins long and containing 25 exclusive tracks (out of 30 in total) it has definitely been worth the wait and is tremendous value for money. You will find contributions from a myriad of talented artists including: Moya Brennan, Joanne Hogg, IONA, Phil Keaggy, Troy Donockley, Mostly Autumn, Martyn Joseph and many many more, along with some intriguing collaborations. Where else will you hear Heather Findlay from Mostly Autumn, Roine Stolt from the Flower Kings and Nick Beggs from Kajagoogoo all guesting on a newly recorded version of Iona's song 'Journey into the Morn', or Dave Bainbridge and Phil Keaggy playing together? All proceeds go towards helping Dave & Debbie's autistic son, Luca continue on his Son-Rise Programme (Autism Center of America). Luca has been doing his Son-Rise programme at home for 5 years now and has made amazing progress; the proceeds of this album will enable Dave & Debbie to continue working with Luca in this way and pay for the essential support services that Son-Rise offer. Track Listing: CD1 Moya Brennan - Eirigh Suas a Stoirin* Dave Beegle - Big Fish Rumba IONA - Journey into the Morn (new version) * Donockley/Bainbridge - A Stor Mo Chroi * Martyn Joseph - Strange Kind of Friend * Soulful Terrain - Lost for You * Kenso - A Winter in Hokkaido Joanne Hogg - I Ask No Dream * Keith Baker - Asimolar Sunrise * Bainbridge/Keaggy - Across the Sea * Aradhna - Rahim Dhaga* Eureka - Arabesque Richard John Thompson - Excuses to Fall * Debbie Bainbridge - In Your Arms * Invisible Opera Company of Tibet - Dreaming * * exclusive track D2 IONA - Bird of Heaven (2007 remix) * Nick Beggs - Do Wot you Want * Chasing the Monsoon - Circles of Stone * Troy Donockley - Hymn to the Sea * Nick Fletcher - Silver Moon* Rachel Taylor-Beales - Super Glue Debbie Bainbridge - Sacred Space * Most Autumn - Winter is King * Fitzgerald/Bainbridge - O Euchari* Mae McKenna/Bainbridge - A Prayer * Deborah Martin - The Brilliance of Stars Joanne Hogg - Almighty Father who Dost Give * Cides/Chapman - Out of the Ether * Theophonic Cloud - Luca * Fletcher/Bainbridge - Red Sun*

Please buy at:

http://www.iona.uk.com or:
www.myspace.com/ionauk

 

Open Sky.
In the summer of 2007 Dave joined forces with;
ANDREA ALONSO - Vocals / Flutes / whistles
GABRIEL ALONSO - Percussion / Drums
ANDY GREEN - Keyboards
&
DAVE BAINBRIDGE - Keyboards / Guitars / Bouzouki / Mandolin

BREAKING OF THE DAWN - NICK FLETCHER & DAVE BAINBRIDGE.
Released in October 2007, this album has been something of a hidden gem. Nick Fletcher was commissioned by Kingsway Music to produce an album celebrating the work of contemporary hymn writers Stuart Townend and Keith Getty and wanted to create an album that fused orchestral and Celtic influences. Enlisting his friend Dave Bainbridge to record and co-produce the album at Dave's Open Sky Studio as well as arrange many of the tracks, it soon became clear that something special was brewing. Both Dave and Nick were keen to disregard previous versions of Stuart and Keith's songs and instead really get to the essence of the lyrics and set their often haunting or uplifting melodies into completely new instrumental and harmonic frameworks.

The result is some incredibly moving moments, with orchestral sweeps of sound often reminiscent of Vaughan Williams and, of course Iona. In fact Iona co-founder David Fitzgerald can be heard on several tracks, notably the wonderful improvised flute introduction to 'Jesus is Lord'. Like Iona's work, the album contains a mixture of vocal and instrumental tracks, with Scottish singer Yvonne Lyons contributing some spine tinglingly fragile and moving performances.

MySpcace.

Catherdral of Dreams ('09).

Nick Fletcher - classical guitar,
Dave Bainbridge - keys,
Andrea Alonso - flute,
Gabriel Alonso - timpani & cymbals.

www.myspace.com/nickfletcherguitarist.

Life Journey Dave Bainbridge & Dave Fitzgerald ('09).
The music on this album was originally commissioned and conceived as an interpretation in sound of the incredibly inspiring imagery and prose contained within Mary Fleeson's wonderful book 'Life Journey'.

Available in a few weeks time from our web store www.iona.uk.com.

 

TERL BRYANT: Psalm ('95) & Beauty As Far As The Eye Can See ('97),

Troy Donockley.

David Fitzgerald: Columcille ('95), Lux Aeterna ('97) & Breath of Heaven and a new album called 'God is Love' ('04).
DAVE BAINBRIDGE & DAVE FITZGERALD
Eye of the Eagle.

Dave works together with Nick Fletcher on the new album Cathedral of Dreams and with Dave Fitzgerald on "Life Journery".
More info at this page.

Martin Nolan
The old Ullian Pipe player released a solo album too with folky tunes.

Frank van Essen.
The Dutch drummer is involved with several projects, but also solo; Release your Power ('07).
But also a x-mas album.
We Belong to the Day by Dew ('12).
With:

Marlou van Essen - Vocals
Dave Bainbridge - Keyboards, acoustic guitars
JayP Beyersbergen - Electric and acoustic guitars
Frank van Essen - Drums, percussion, piano and keyboards, programming, violins, violas and vocals
Phil Barker: Bass
Troy Donockley: Uillean pipes, high and low whistles
Luca Genta: Cello, fretless bass

 

Please visit their site at:
http://www.iona.uk.com or:
www.myspace.com/ionauk

 

Here you can find an interview with

Troy Donockley and
Dave Bainbridge.

 

Please visit my guestbook.

 

 

Symfo-Index.

 

Updated 12-12-08 by Nick.
Shine On!

www.mostlypink.net