Iona was formed during the late eighties and released their self-titled debut album in 1990. The band covers a number of styles including Celtic, progressive rock, and even jazz and Christian elements.
All the band's albums have received critical acclaim, as have the band's live performances over the years.
The mainstays of the band are Dave Bainbridge, Joanne Hogg Phil Barker, Frank Van Essen and multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley. There have also been some high profile guests perform with the band on their albums over the years including King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and former Kajagoogoo bassist Nick Beggs.
It was decided that the band would for personal reasons take a break from recording and touring and as such the various members embarked on a series of recording and touring projects.
A very productive period followed, when the various members produced solo albums and in the case of Dave Bainbridge and Troy Donockley, a series of duo recordings and concerts. Iona has reunited to great acclaim and success, and The Circling Hour is the band's first studio album for more than five years. Recordings have taken place at various studios over the last few years and some of the material has been road-tested at some of the bands recent concert performances.
The album was produced by Dave Bainbridge and mixed in Los Angeles by John Kellogg, and the band is lining up a number of live performances in order to promote the album.
