Hi All,

Hi All,

Hi All,

Hi All,

have just added some extracts from the new album Life Journey (Bainbridge / Fitzgerald). Let me know what you think! The album will be on sale on the Iona website (www.iona.uk.com) next week all being well.

Also added a short string quintet piece which was the final section from the short film Wilfred which I scored the music for. Hoping to add a few other bits of film music, bits from the Troy and Dave albums and a couple of extracts from the 'Iberian Fantasy' guitar concerto when I get time. BTW Nick Fletcher's Cathedral of Dreams album, which this is on, is on sale now on the Iona website, along with the newly re-issued version of Iona's 'Journey into the Morn'.

Got to go - some Kairos Ensemble mixes to finish off and 2 more 5 minute films for Nestle to score this week!

More soon!

all the best

Dave

Hi All,

just a quick note to say the new collaboration album Life Journey (Bainbridge / Fitzgerald) has just been mastered this weekend and I should have copies in 3-4 weeks! David and I are really pleased with how it's sounding and the cover artwork (by Mary and Mark Fleeson) looks great too. 

We'll have it for sale asap on the Iona webstore (at www.iona.uk.com). Also on there any day now (once our very busy technical guy gets round to it....) the newly re-issued Iona album 'Journey into the Morn' (in stock now) and Nick Fletcher's Cathedral of Dreams album, featuring the 24 minute guitar concerto 'Iberian Fantasy', that I co-wrote and orchestrated with Nick.

Just getting ready for Heaven on Earth in Holland (1st-5th May) where I'll be playing with Iona (May 2nd), and my friend Frank van Essen's band 'Dew' (May 4th and 5th) - should be an amazing event if last year was anything to go by. See www.heaven-on-earth for further details - 3,600 people registered to go so far!

All for now

Dave

Hi All,
what a busy year this has been so far....

JANUARY
Musician in residence for St Paul's Cathedral retreat - got to talk astronomy with the former Vatican Astronomer Royal - amazing!

Mixing The Kairos Ensemble album The Passion Suite begins

Wonderful weekend in Yorkshire with Debbie leading a worship weekend and church service - four people healed - God is amazing!

More music written for 3 more short films for Nestle - recorded and mixed in surround sound

FEBRUARY
An amazing time in El Paso playing at the Worship Invasion conference with Frank (from Iona) and wife Marlou, praying for a change in the spiritual atmosphere over El Paso and Juarez, Mexico - where 1,600 people were killed in drug and mafia related crime last year. 3 days later 700 drug barons are arrested after the Mexican government send in 5,000 troops - praise God!

Finish off Nick Fletcher's Cathedral of Dreams album (see previous blogs). Currently being manufactured and will be on sale on the Iona website in a few days time - see www.iona.uk.com)

Life Journey album coming on very well indeed (see previous blogs).

Have played some keys on about 5 tracks on my friend Jason Williams' (Soulful Terrain) album 'Astoria' - which is going to be a great album. Nice to do something that draws upon one of my early keyboard heroes - Jon Lord! Used Motu's Electric Keys plug in for some great B3 and Rhodes sounds and IK multimedia's Sampletank for some great Tron strings!

MARCH
Still working on Life Journey - most of it is mixed now - just a bit of recording still to do on a few tracks - very excited about this album!

Great time playing in Holland with Frank's (from Iona) band Dew.

More Kairos Ensemble album mixing - most tracks finished - just a few tweaks to do.

APRIL
Off to Holland next week to rehearse with Frank's band Dew for the Heaven on Earth conference - and - great news - Iona will be doing a late night concert there on 2nd May - see www.heavenonearth.nl Joanne has written a couple of great new songs which we'll be attempting to play!

Practicing for the Iona concert!!

Iona's best selling album 'Journey into the Morn' is re-released on our own Open Sky label - after being unavailable for ages (complete with new artwork) - will be up on the Iona website in a day or two.

Am enjoying using Digital Performer v 6.02 - which has sorted out some of the bugs on v 6.01

All for now - hope to update the songs on the site soon with some extracts from the new projects.

Best wishes,

Dave

Hi All,

Two albums I've been working on for ages are now nearing completion (phew!).

CATHEDRAL OF DREAMS
Mixing on 'Cathedral of Dreams', Nick Fletcher's solo album is very nearly finished now. All 11 of Nick's wonderful solo guitar pieces are mixed and we're well on with mixing the 3rd movement (of 4) of the 24 minute long guitar concerto we've co-written, called 'Iberian Fantasy'. We just need one more day to finish off tweaks on this movement and mix the 4th mvt and then to mastering at Lowland Masters with our good friend Nigel Palmer. Nick and I are really pleased with 'Iberian Fantasy' - it's really sounding great and is certainly one of the most ambitious pieces I've worked on from an orchestration point of view. The album will be released early in the new year.

LIFE JOURNEY
My latest collaboration with my good friend David Fitzgerald is now dominating most of my working time and I'm aiming to have this finished by early February, for a Spring release. Based around Mary Fleeson's book of the same name (see previous blogs for more details), this is a real 'soundscape' album with the aim to bring to life Mary's wonderful illustrations and prose. The album is completely David and I with no other musicians involved and is all instrumental, apart from some choir samples which I'm using.

Mary and husband Mark and David all came up to the studio here to listen to work in progress mixes a couple of weeks ago and we are all excited about how things are shaping up. Mary and Mark could both hear how certain aspects of the artwork are being reflected in the music and they were extremely moved at our interpretation, which David and I are very pleased about! The music and images, we hope will take people on a journey of hope and allow space to enter into God's wonderful Presence.

Mark is planning to come to the studio to film David and I talking about how we've approached the music and our inspiration etc quite soon. The exciting thing is that Mary has a follow up book about to be released, called 'Life in Christ - living in the Presence' and we're already discussing a follow up album soundtrack, which would be very exciting to do. For more info on both these books, go to http://www.lindisfarne-scriptorium.co.uk

If I can get organised I'll put some mp3 samples from these new projects up on the my space site before too long

A few of the other things scheduled / probable for 2009 so far include;

JANUARY
Musician in residence for the annual St Paul's Institute retreat - this time taking place near Cambridge. The theme is very much an astronomical one and the speakers include the Vatican's former Astronomer Royal. Also included is an evening stargazing at the Cambridge Observatory (can't wait!!).

Mixing 'The Passion Suite'- the latest album by The Kairos Ensemble.

My wife Debbie and I will be leading a worship evening at St John's Church in Yeadon, Yorkshire at the end of the month - hoping to bring people into a deeper sense of God's Presence. We're hoping to do a few more of these when possible.

FEBRUARY
Possible trip to El Paso in Texas with Frank van Essen's band Dew to play at a conference.
Re-commencing work on the Open Sky band album over the coming month to aim for completion by the summer.

MARCH
Playing on the Passion and Purity tour with Dew in Holland and also doing some recording at Frank's studio.

MAY
Playing at the Heaven on Earth event in Holland

SEPTEMBER
IONA will be back playing LIVE!! in what will be the band's 20th anniversary year. Just a few gigs are planned at the moment but there are plans for 4 in Germany this month - so far confirmed are Kriftel (4th Sept) and Altenkirchen (5th Sept), and hopefully a few more later in the year!

As this will be probably be my last blog before Christmas - wishing everyone a wonderful time and a hope filled 2009!

Dave