Thriving Ivory

Thriving Ivory is an American rock band who originated in Santa Barbara, California and went through various line-up changes before relocating to San Francisco, California in their current form. They released their self-titled Wind-Up Records debut album on June 24, 2008. The album reached #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart on the strength of the charting single "Angels on the Moon". After half a year, "Angels on the Moon" appeared on the US Pop 100 Chart, reaching number 28.

The band was chosen for the Yahoo! Music: Who's Next? User's Choice Competition. They were up against 3 other artists, including We The Kings, Shwayze, and Mandi Perkins. The contest launched August 14, 2008. They also featured as a MySpace Karaoke Artist where fans submitted audio or video of themselves singing a song by the band.

In 2009 they performed their single "Angels on the Moon" on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Rachael Ray Show.

On April 21, 2010, while recording their new album, Through Yourself & Back Again, the band announced that bassist Bret Cohune had decided to "pursue different opportunities." Early in 2010 their first single "Angels on the Moon" was certified Gold in the US selling over 500,000 copies.

Formation
Clayton Stroope attended the University of California, Santa Barbara. It was there that he met Scott Jason, an aspiring piano singer/songwriter. Jason quickly recognized a perfect fit for his music and lyrics with Stroope's operatic rock vocal approach. "As soon as I heard Clayton sing, we had the idea not only to write together, but start a band," said Scott. First to sign on with them was guitarist Drew Cribley. Drummer Paul Niedermier followed, the moment "I heard Clayton sing," he says, "I knew right away that this was something I wanted to be a part of. Within the first couple of weeks, we were playing before 500 to 600 screaming college kids." Bassist Bret Cohune was the final component of Thriving Ivory's dynamic equation. "I was in another group playing around Santa Barbara, but I used to watch these guys all the time and was kind of in awe," he says. "They were on a whole other level, the kind of band I wanted to be in."

San Francisco rock radio station KITS Live 105 added the unsigned band's demo of their cornerstone song "Angels on the Moon" early in the band's career. It leapt past far more established acts to become a Top Five listener request, and earn year-end accolades on the "Best Of" lists by the station's staff. As the fan base grew, and Thriving Ivory became a red-hot concert attraction across California, Arizona and Nevada (and already expanding nationwide), they continued to pack enthusiasts into such blue-ribbon venues in their Bay Area home base as The Great American Music Hall, Slims, and The Independent.

Debut album
After enthralling the Santa Barbara College community the group relocated to San Francisco as their buzz grew. Self-released discs and the Internet helped spread the word, pulling in more than half a million hits to Thriving Ivory's MySpace music player.

Thriving Ivory's live shows sealed the deal with anyone who witnessed one. "I was immediately attracted to Thriving Ivory's sound," notes an admittedly "stubborn and hardheaded" Sonoma State Star reviewer. "It was surprisingly melodic, sweeping and triumphant. The vocals were raw, gritty and yet refined and pleasantly reminiscent of a young Robert Plant. The piano was simply enchanting, providing a sturdy backbone for their sound, which was rounded off with laid back guitar riffs, smooth bass and rhythmic drums...Their music is larger than they know... The band exudes a cohesion found only in seasoned bands like the Rolling Stones, and yet, they are seemingly unaware of how big they could be."

Veteran manager Arnold Pustinik (former management partner of legendary rock impresario Bill Graham) was piqued by a demo to catch a live show that wowed him and joined forces with the group. Thriving Ivory began recording their album with Manning in the basement of Cribley's family home as major labels sniffed out the buzz and came courting. But it was an immediate offer from Wind-Up Records that presented Thriving Ivory with the ideal launching pad for the final stage of their ascent to rock music's upper stratosphere.

Signing with Wind-Up in 2007, the band worked with producers Howard Benson (who had previously worked with Seether and Daughtry) and Chris Manning (former bassist for Jellyfish) for their debut. Released in 2008, Thriving Ivory contained several songs that had been available on the group’s self-released records. The first single was “Angels on the Moon,” the moony ballad that represented the band's yearning, heartfelt reach and was responsible for making their presence known on the airwaves years prior. With their delicate string sections and lovelorn lyrics, Thriving Ivory's songs drew comparisons to Coldplay and U2.

Band members
Clayton Stroope - Lead vocals Scott Jason - Piano, keyboards Drew Cribley - Guitars Paul Niedermier - Drums, percussion

Former members
Bret Cohune - Bass

Studio albums

 * Thriving Ivory (2003)
 * Thriving Ivory (2008) (Re-release on Wind-Up Records)
 * Through Yourself & Back Again (2010)

Extended plays

 * Secret Life EP (2004)
 * Tell Me Your Name EP (2009)