iluvatar
The band's roots go back
to the 1983 and a local progressive rock cover band called
Sojourn. Many of the songs and lyrics on the first album, as
well as a few on the second, were written or co-written by
original Sojourn guitarist Tom Kraus. Tom left the line-up when
Sojourn mutated into Iluvatar in 1992.
Iluvatar began performing live in the Baltimore area and quickly
acquired a steadily-growing following of devoted fans. Though
the primary focus of their live performances was on their
original compositions, the band occasionally accented their sets
with music from Genesis, Marillion, Pink Floyd, and Styx.
Iluvatar's self-titled debut CD was released on Kinesis Records
in November 1993 and quickly became the label's top-seller.
Iluvatar soon began to receive international recognition for
their work. Iluvatar re-entered the studio in March 1995 to
record "Children", their second album for Kinesis, with Dean
Morekas replacing original bassist Mick Trimble. "Children"
firmly established Iluvatar as one of the premier American bands
in the 90's progressive movement. Following the release of the
album, original drummer Gary Chambers left the band and was
replaced by Rick Fleischmann who can be heard on some of the
live tracks on 1997's "Sideshow" CD, a collection of live
tracks, alternate versions, and unreleased material. Allen
Brunelle played drums on the subsequent Sideshow international
tour in '97. Drummer Chris Mack has been with the band since
December 1997 and plays on the latest studio CD "A Story Two
Days Wide".
In addition to numerous headlining shows, Iluvatar has played
before progressive rock fans at both ProgScape 94 and 96 in
Baltimore, one of New York City's ProgNights in 96, ProgDay 96
in North Carolina, and ProgEast in Quebec Canada. They played to
packed theaters in Buenos Aires, Argentina in September 1997,
and performed in Mexicali Mexico at BajaProg 98 as well as
NEARfest 2000 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Iluvatar are currently in the midst of recording their
long-awaited new studio album and they will feature new music at
RoSfest.
