The San Francisco quintet
Thriving Ivory came together when
Clayton Stroope (vocals) and
Scott Jason (pianist and songwriter) met at college. They were soon joined by
Drew Cribley (guitar),
Bret Cohune (bass), and
Paul Niedermier (drums) and, inspired by
U2 and
Coldplay, began playing gigs for their fellow students, as well as recording their self-funded, self-titled independent debut with
Jellyfish's
Chris Manning, who acted as their producer. While building a fan base with their shows and album, the band also got a boost from local radio station KITS, which put their song "Angels on the Moon" in full rotation; listeners soon made it one of the station's most requested tracks. After signing with Wind-Up Records in 2007,
Thriving Ivory worked with producer
Howard Benson on a new version of their debut album (including new and re-recorded tracks). It was released in June 2008. ~ Katherine Fulton, All Music Guide