The Union are a British rock band formed in 2009 by

Luke Morley Luke Morley (born 19 June 1960 in Camberwell, London, England) is the guitarist, chief songwriter and producer for the hard rock band Thunder from 1989 to present (with a break from 1999–2002, and 2009–2011). Previous to that he wa ...

, guitarist for

Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

, and Peter Shoulder, formerly of Winterville.

History

Formation and ''The Union''

After the breakup of Thunder in August 2009, guitarist Luke Morley announced that he had formed a new group with Pete Shoulder, whose previous band, Winterville, had split in 2007. The band was to be called ''The Union''. The pair had met each other eight years previously and had "worked together ever since whenever our previous commitments allowed us time". Chris Childs (also previously in Thunder) and

Phil Martini The Tokyo Dragons were a London-based hard rock band. They achieved success in the UK and worldwide after releasing two successful albums and touring with Nashville Pussy, The Quireboys, Status Quo (band), Status Quo, Do Me Bad Things and Winneb ...

(from

Down 'n' Outz Down 'n' Outz are an England, English Rock music, rock band featuring members from Def Leppard, The Quireboys, and Raw Glory. The group covers bands and artists related to Mott the Hoople including Mott, British Lions, and Ian Hunter (singer), ...

) were later named as the bassist and drummer respectively for the band, although not as 'full' members of the group, as they intend to have a more "fluid line-up". The Union made their live debut on 15 December 2009, at The Relentless Garage in London. The show was filmed for a live DVD, which was released with their debut album. It was announced in February 2010 that the band were to play at that year's inaugural

High Voltage Festival High Voltage was a music festival, held twice in Victoria Park, London. The event hosted artists from various strands of rock music, including classic rock, progressive rock, and heavy metal. The first festival was held on 24 and 25 July 2010. Th ...

; they played the Main Stage on Saturday 24 July. This followed their first full tour of the UK, which took place over ten dates in April. The Union also played the 2010

Sonisphere Festival The Sonisphere Festival was a touring rock music festival which took place across Europe between the months of June and August. The festival was owned by John Jackson and Kilimanjaro Live. It was jointly promoted by K2 and Kilimanjaro Live. It ...

Knebworth Knebworth is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England, immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Hert ...

on Sunday 1 June. The band's debut single, "Step up to the Plate", was premiered on Planet Rock on Thursday 18 March, and was available to download from the band's website. The Union announced two shows in late July (between their appearances at High Voltage and Sonisphere) which they were to headline and another UK tour in late September and early October. The band's second single, "Black Monday", was available as a free download in mid-May. The Union's eponymous debut album was originally scheduled to be released on 16 August 2010; however it was eventually released a week later, on 23 August 2010. "Watch the River Flow", the band's third single, was released on 25 October. It was followed on 13 December by "This Time Next Year" which was the first official ' ChildLine Rocks' single. At the

Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards The Classic Rock Roll of Honour was an annual awards program that ran from 2005 to 2016. The awards were founded by Classic Rock Magazine. Winners of the awards were chosen by the awards team and voted on by readers of the magazine. Winners are ann ...

on 10 November 2010, The Union were named the best new band of the year. The Union supported

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

on tour in January 2011, supported Triggerfinger on a tour of Belgium and The Netherlands in March 2011 and opened for

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...

when they toured the UK in June.

''Siren's Song''

The Union's second album, ''Siren's Song'' was released in October 2011. The title track, "Siren's Song", was released in May 2011. The Union played the "Langford Live" festival in September 2011, in order to raise money for

Teenage Cancer Trust Teenage Cancer Trust is a cancer care and support charity in the UK that exists to improve the cancer experience of young people aged 13–24. Founded in 1990, the charity's key service is providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. It ...

. The festival, situated in

Lower Langford Lower Langford is a village within the civil parishes of Churchill and Burrington in the unitary authority of North Somerset, England. It is located on the western edge of the Mendip Hills about east of Weston-super-Mare. It was a village built ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary authorities of England, unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non ...

, was headlined by

Ocean Colour Scene Ocean Colour Scene (often abbreviated to OCS) are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Solihull in 1989. They have had five top 10 albums including a number one in 1997. They have also achieved seventeen top 40 singles and six top 10 sin ...

. The Union embarked on a co-headlining tour of the UK with The Answer in March 2012, and also played alongside them at the Steelhouse Festival in July of the same year, which took place in the vicinity of

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr con ...

. The Union also made an appearance at the 2012 edition of the

Download Festival Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...

. ''Siren's Song'' was nominated in the 'Album of the Year' category at the 2012

Classic Rock Magazine ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...

Awards, although it eventually lost out to Rush's ''

Clockwork Angels ''Clockwork Angels'' is the nineteenth and final studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on June 12, 2012, on Roadrunner Records. During the band's year-and-a-half break following its Snakes & Arrows Tour, the group decided to write a ...

''.

''The World Is Yours''

The Union's third studio album, ''The World Is Yours'', was released on 11 February 2013. The band embarked on a UK tour throughout February in support of the new album. The album was funded by a

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...

campaign, which had already passed the 200 percent mark by November 2012.

Band members

;Current * Peter Shoulder – lead vocals. guitars, keyboards (2009–present) *

– guitars, backing vocals (2009–present) * Chris Childs – bass guitar (2009–present) * Dave McCluskey – drums (September 2010–present) ;Former * Geoff Holroyde – drums (April 2010-August 2010) *

– drums (2009–2010)

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

Official website

Facebook page

Myspace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Union (band) Musical groups established in 2009 English rock music groups English hard rock musical groups English blues rock musical groups