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Artist News: Iona - Added Live Dates, Appearances, Bainbridge's Second Solo CD

Posted on Sunday, April 15 @ 14:00:00 UTC by nightowl

In their latest newsletter, Iona report additional dates have been added to their tour itinerary, including "returning to Estonia to play a one off concert in the fabulous Nokia Theatre in Tallinn on 26th July as part of Heartbeat Tallinn, a week of concerts and events. Back in 1992, Iona were one of the first bands from the west to tour this former Soviet occupied country after the fall of communism there in 1991. At the time the country was still largely very poor, but the incredible humility and faith of the people we met there has stayed with us.

Dave [Bainbridge] relates: "Alari, the organiser of the tour took us to a bus shelter. He said that his church could not afford to meet in a building and so they met in this drafty bus shelter each week. We visited the family of one of the guys helping on the tour. Even though he had a good job, their house was little more than a wooden shack, with cupboards for the children to sleep in. Yet the meal they provided for us was so generous and they were so welcoming.

"We had a meal in another tiny, rundown apartment where they regularly had 15 people sleeping there on the floor. We heard stories at first hand of persecution under the old communist regime, but also many amazing stories of how the people were now working in the prisons and seeing God doing incredible miracles there. And the old communist party headquarters now housed a vibrant Christian congregation where God�s presence was so tangible." You can find out more about Heartbeat Tallinn at www.2012.ee.

Plus - Joanne [Hogg] is making a guest appearance at Belfast's prestigious Waterfront Hall on 9th May as part of a special launch event for ROC (Redeeming Our Communities) Northern Ireland. The evening is billed as a showcase evening of live music, entertainment and inspiring examples of community action from across Northern Ireland. Jo will be part of an impressive line up including X Factor finalist Janet Devlin, Jim Eastwood from The Apprentice, Vibe Academy, The Belfast Community Gospel Choir and the Revie School of Dance.

Tickets, which are only £5 can be booked online at www.roc.uk.com/northernireland or by telephone: 0161 946 2373.

Regarding Bainbridge's second solo album, he writes: "I've found quite a lot of time to continue working on the album since the last newsletter and it's going really well. More than 30 possible tracks ideas have been whittled down to 11 definites with 7 more possibles. It's nice to have so much material to choose from, but also tricky deciding what to leave out! A couple of the tracks are going to work better as future Iona songs, which is exciting. Some tracks that were embryonic ideas back in January are now nearing completion and getting to the stage where I need to start recording contributions from other musicians.

"It's beginning to feel like the album is taking on a cohesive shape and sound and the lose theme connecting many of the tracks is that of restoration, the rediscovery of all that has been lost.

"Our brilliant webmaster Tim is currently preparing a page on the Iona website for the album with more info, including all the great deals that we're planning to help with funding. This should go live very soon. I'm also continuing to update people on progress on my facebook page (www.facebook.com/dave.bainbridge1 )."

[Source: Iona newsletter]

Posted in Band News (tours, comings/goings, etc)