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A BRIEF HISTORY OF theREIGN |
| Following the relative success of his debut solo CD, I Will Follow in 2001, David Cooper decided that he needed a proper band, containing real, live musicians in order to make the follow-up even better and, with that in mind, he spent the early part of 2002 gathering together musicians wherever he went. By August of that year, the original lineup was complete: David himself (Lead vocals & Acoustic Guitar), Ivan Carruthers (Drums), John Osbourne (Bass Guitar), Dave Keegan (Electric Guitar), Kathryn Cooper (Piano), Phil Gray (Acoustic Guitar), Helen Webber (Violin), Jo Fussey and Debbie Simpson (Vocals).
At the start, the idea was that this group would do nothing but assist David in recording his new CD, but as soon as we all stood in the same room at the same time with our instruments, the ease with which we played with each other and the shared vision we all had for our music made it quite obvious that God had other plans. And so it was that in November 2002, the band made its live debut (named only The Dave Cooper Band at that point) supporting Geoff Howlett and Wild Honey in the Upper Room at The Haworth Arms pub in Hull. This was followed on 1 February 2003 with theREIGN's full, official debut at Kingston Wesley Methodist Church in East Hull. Further concerts followed at Sutton Methodist Church and St Barnabas Church, Swanland in early Summer, followed by the release of Sing in September, after almost 10 months in the making. During 2003, we lost both Helen and Jo to pastures new, but in early 2004 Simon Reeves took over on piano, freeing Kathryn to concentrate on vocals. 2004 was a weird year for the band overall, with David suffering a serious eye injury in October, at the same time as an unofficial hiatus was forced on them by the involvement of several members in another project. Serious prayer ensued over the future of the band, and at the windup of the other project in early 2005, Dave Keegan and Debbie Simpson both left the band, to be replaced by Paul Ganney on Electric Guitar and Barbara Osbourne and Jemma Phillipson on Vocals. It soon became clear that God had His hand over us all at this point, as we very quickly adjusted to the new lineup and, probably for the first time, truly found our voice. We were now able to switch almost effortlessly between worship and performance, as the situation demanded, and God greatly blessed all of us as musicians and, through our music, the audiences we played for. 2005 featured some true highlights of the band's journey to date, with the disappointment of missing out on our planned festival debut in July (due to the cancellation of the whole event) more than tempered by invitations to play at youth events in Witham, Essex and Torquay, Devon. These trips helped to bind us together as a group of musicians and Christians, and enabled the band to truly spread its wings. As 2006 opened, we had made the decision to finally record a follow-up to Sing and God's timing came to the fore once again. Long-serving (or should that be suffering?) sound engineer, Dave Cartwright needed a project for his final year at the University of Lincoln, and our new album was thought to be a perfect choice. Kingston Wesley was also in the process of building a recording studio which could be used for this purpose. And so, between early February and mid-April, Dave and the band worked very, VERY hard recording and putting together Where Jesus Touches The Earth, released in June. At the end of recording, Simon stepped down from his position behind the piano, as he was finding it increasingly difficult to balance his University course in Durham with being available to play with theREIGN. He leaves with our best wishes, thanks and prayers. August 2006 saw theREIGN finally make their festival debut, at Greenbelt, with a successful Monday morning slot in front of over 200 people. That performance led directly to an invitation to return in 2007 as part of the formal worship programme. Following a series of smaller scale concerts and worship meetings throughout 2007, the band went to Greenbelt_07 armed with their Rock Eucharist (called Communion on the Rocks) and led a crowd/congregation of around 140 people in worship at half past midnight using a combination of their own material, some popular worship songs and a little Nirvana, Queen and Fleetwood Mac. The success of this event at Greenbelt has encouraged the band to promote this to local churches, with Victoria Dock and St Barnabas, Swanland, already interested in hosting it. These are exciting times for theREIGN, and we hope that you will support and pray for us on our ongoing journey. |
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