The song writing pair of Chris Bull and Mike Grice met 4 years ago at a Ryan Adams concert at the Manchester Academy, shortly after they had both moved north from London. Having spent some years writing and playing in bands together, they formed City Reign, taking the name from an Adams song, ‘City Rain, City Streets’.
The early days saw them cut their recording teeth recording some demos with Grammy winner Dan Parry in London’s Metropolis Studio. These sessions were influential in helping the band develop the strong guitar sound.
The band spent some time building up a back catalogue, and gigging themselves into a tight live unit. They have since set up their own indie label ‘Car Boot Records’, and released debut single ‘Making Plans’ in September 2010. Considering the shoe-string budget, the band enjoyed great success. Steve Lamacq listed them among his
favourite new bands during 2010’s In The City Festival.
The band released follow up singles ‘Out In The Cold’ and ‘Daybreak’ earlier this year. The songs received great praise amongst bloggers and online press, including a recommendation from The Independent.
The recent EP ‘Numbers for Street Names’ saw the band embark on a successful UK and European Tour. They are now focusing on recording their first full length album, due out later this year.
When is Daybreak going to be on spotify? Still my favourite.