The City Harmonic

A Christian rock band whose music combines Brit-pop-infused indie rock with a spiritual message, the City Harmonic emerged in 2010 with the charting debut EP Introducing the City Harmonic. They took home the Dove Award for New Artist of the Year and a Juno for Christian/Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year in recognition of their long-player, 2011's I Have a Dream (It Feels Like Home). After three consecutive Christian Top 40 albums, the band celebrated their 2017 farewell tour with the release of fourth album Benediction: Live.

The City Harmonic was formed in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 2009 by Elias Dummer (vocals, keys, guitar), Aaron Powell (guitar), Eric Fusilier (bass guitar), and Josh Vanderlaan (drums), who first came together for a student religious outreach program in Hamilton. Within a year, the worship band headed out on their own and released their first EP, Introducing the City Harmonic, in November 2010. The set made the Christian music charts in Canada and the U.S., and the Canadian Gospel Music Association gave the group three Covenant Awards for New Artist of the Year, Recorded Song of the Year, and Modern Worship Song of the Year. The year 2011 saw the release of the group's first album, I Have a Dream (It Feels Like Home), which was another chart success and led to the group winning a Dove Award from the American GMA as New Artist of the Year. The City Harmonic won a Juno Award for Christian/Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year before issuing their second full-length album, Heart, in September 2013. It debuted at number one on Canada's inspirational chart and cracked the Top 20 of Billboard's Christian Albums chart.

Eric Fusilier was diagnosed with cancer that year, but he was in remission by the time the City Harmonic delivered their third album, September 2015's We Are, which once again topped the inspirational album chart in Canada and hit the Christian Top 40 in the States. A documentary on the band, We Are the City Harmonic: The Movie, was released concurrently. In late 2016, the City Harmonic posted a message on their website announcing that the group would be parting ways. Documenting their farewell tour, a live worship album, Benediction: Live, was issued in June 2017. Dummer soon launched a solo career with 2019's acclaimed The Work, Vol. 1. ~ Mark Deming & Marcy Donelson, Rovi