Rachel Mac

Cyra Elia was formed in June 1996 in Preston, Lancashire. The original line-up was:

Rachel Mac MacDonald (Cyra) - Vocals/Songwriter

Vini Whittingham (Bluejooz) - Synths/Backing Vocals/Production/Arrangement

Dave Sharples - Lead & Rhythm Guitar/Songwriting

Phil Riddell - Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals

Together in this line-up Cyra Elia played at many venues around England and Wales, performing their own brand of original folk-rock music which sometimes crossed over into other genres such as electro-pop, dance, and ambient. In this line-up Cyra Elia produced several albums including "What You See Is What You Hear", "Sometimes Now" and, the most popular, "Dreamcatcher".

In 1999 the line-up changed because Cyra & Blue moved back home to North Wales. Ian Marshall became the new guitarist and with the new arrival came a new, more commercial pop-rock sound. In 2000 they produced another album, "The Soundtrack" and the band made regular appearances at radio roadshows and charity events. They gained airplay on several radio shows including "The James Whale Talk Show" and had a regular weekend spot at The Cross Keys in Llandudno.

In 2001 the band met 17 year-old, Kev Carlton-Jones (KevCeeJay). He used to play a small acoustic set in between sets at Cyra Elia gigs and he was so keen and obviously very talented and he was gradually integrated into the band.

Around this time, Cyra Elia had started to become noticed by the local press and almost managed to secure a record deal with a local record label but sadly this particular deal was not meant to be and in 2003 things slowed down a bit. Kev started to write & record some solo tracks and has become a real all-rounder these days. He sings, plays guitar, bass, drums and keys and writes & records his own work. He plays a regular spot at an open mic night at "Alexanders" in Chester. Check him out at www.myspace.com/kevceejayrocks.

Cyra Elia is not complete without mentioning Greg MacDonald: the fourth guitarist to have played with Cyra & Blue. He played with the band for about a year and appeared with them at several large gigs and private functions before the band played their farewell gig at the Llandudno Festival in 2004.

Bluejooz then created an on-line record label for ambient musicians around the world www.ambientcollective.com. He regularly collaborates on recordings & albums with many of the Ambient Collective artists.

Blue is also one half of "The Rubiks" - An eighties cover group formed in 2008, primarily for raising money for charity.

Cyra is the other half of "The Rubiks" and she has also gravitated back to her roots of musical theatre and she can often be seen performing in musicals at Rhyl Pavilion Theatre, North Wales. She is currently touring England & Wales with a Shakespearean theatre company playing the role of Miranda in "The Tempest".

In 2007 Cyra Elia hooked back up with original guitarist, Dave Sharples and over the last couple of years they been working in the studio recording new versions of some Cyra Elia classics.

And in 2009 Cyra started writing again after a break of around 4 years and her new EP "Shadow Of Doubt" is now available for download from iTunes, Amazon, Napster & eMusic for a very reasonable (and small) fee!! This release sees the first ever collaboration of old & new band members with Bluejooz, Dave & Kev having input on the recordings.

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