Period: 2002-2003
History: 2002-2003
July '03 / First 3 Album Rights
The band get the rights back for their first 3 album releases (Iona, The Book Of Kells and Beyond These Shores) and plan to re-release them on their own Open Sky label later in the year.
September '03 / Iona Featured on 'Celtic Circle 2'
The reworked version of the track 'Iona' from the band's first album appears on a compilation album released by the mainstream giants BMG Records titled 'Celtic Circle 2'. The 2 cd, 40 track album also features tracks by a whole host of well known artists, including Clannad, Jeff Beck, The Corrs, Mike Oldfield, Sinead O'Connor, Van Morrison, Loreena McKinnett, The Chieftans, Davy Spillane etc, etc. Two IONA tracks - 'Treasure' and 'The Island' (reworked version) are also featured on another compilation album released by The World Wide Music Group, entitled 'The Celtic Worship Collection'. Other artists also featured on this album include Eden's Bridge, Jeff Johnson and Robin Mark. Troy's latest solo album 'In Pursuit of Illusion' enters the 'Out of this World' top 10 for 'progressive and symphonic rock' albums on the Dutch web site www.progwereld.org
October '03
Troy and Dave play their first ever gigs and a duo at venues in the UK. The set includes solo album material, traditional folk tunes and IONA tracks and the concerts are very well received. Included in the set are tracks like 'Conscious', the opening track from Troy's 'Illusion' - quite a challenge for the boys to play it live as the album version features a whole cast of musicians including the York Cantores Choir!
November '03 / 'In Pursuit of Illusion' Reviews
Troy's latest solo album 'In Pursuit of Illusion' has been getting some good reviews and is now available in many mainstream music shops thanks to a distribution deal with the Discovery record label. Meanwhile Troy and Dave play a few more UK dates, one of which (at The Studio, Hartlepool) is recorded in their purpose build recording facility. Iona's first 3 albums are re-released on 'Open Sky' - in conjunction with Voiceprint. The albums feature great new artwork, courtesy of Chris Sands, some of which is derived from the IONA box set artwork.
Also during the year Kingsway release their 'New Irish Hymns 2' on which Joanne is one of the featured vocalists, along with Margaret Becker and Kirsty Getty.
Also during the year Kingsway release their 'New Irish Hymns 2' on which Joanne is one of the featured vocalists, along with Margaret Becker and Kirsty Getty.
