This article was published in 2009.

There wasn’t a great deal of celebrating amongst Leeds Rhinos supporters at Headingley last Friday night but, despite the home side’s defeat by Harlequins, one small group of fans cracked open the champagne. Indie-pop band Kinch were named Leeds Rhinos Official Band for 2009, after winning the crowd over with their upbeat arrangement of perennial favourite Marching On Together.

Kinch, a young Motown and ska-influenced band from the Halton/Whitkirk area of Leeds, came through three rounds of voting and two play-offs on the pitch to claim the high-profile prize, the latest feather in the band’s cap. Their recent run of success includes following in the footsteps of Corrine Bailey Rae and The Music by winning Leeds Bright Young Things 2008, then seeing their debut single Old Fashioned Love climb to Number 7 on the UK Indie Chart last October.

Singer Chris Chadwick said, “We’re all Leeds born-and-bred so it’s great for us to be able to represent the city and the club with our music and hopefully we’ll win over a few new fans in the process.”

The band have just finished a set of new recordings at Bradford’s Peak Studios and hope Friday’s win will further raise their profile as they seek out a new label to showcase their talents.

Kinch play at The Faversham at 2pm on Saturday May 2nd as part of the all-day live music event, Live At Leeds.