The Spooky Men’s Chorale, The Welsh Folk Prom, St David’s Hall, Cardiff: July 25, 2019 Dave Chamberlain & Siân Northey reviewed: Wales has a long and proud tradition of male choral singing, the Morriston Orpheus and the Treorchy Male Voice choirs being perhaps the best known internationally – but it was an Anglo-Antipodean ensemble taking…
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Welsh wizards Alaw bring the house down at Festival benefit night
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ALAW, MORFA, MANSANT: Tredegar House Folk Festival Benefit Night, Newport Folk Club, Fugitives Sports Club, Rogerstone Newport Folk Club played welcoming hosts to a jam-packed, memorable and celebratory night, just bubbling and brimming over with feel-good, joyous and utterly ingenious music from Wales and further beyond. The evening proudly advertised Tredegar House Folk Festival, which…
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Oliver, Jamie and Dylan set to perform in Royal Albert Hall; UK and Euro tour dates ready
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Spectacular Welsh trio Alaw have been invited to play at London’s Royal Albert Hall as part the BBC Proms on August 3, 2018. They join a mouth-watering line-up, including Scottish Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, Irish musician Jarlath Henderson, Sam Lee, The Unthanks, the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Stephen Bell. The trio has been playing together since 2013,…
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Emily and Lukas make it a perfect evening
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EMILY BARKER BAND / LUKAS DRINKWATER: Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, November 4, 2017 Memphis has Beale Street, New Orleans has Bourbon Street, thoroughfares known the world over for their vibrant music scene. If you’re in Cardiff and fancy sampling live music in the Welsh capital, then head to Womanby Street; it’s a medieval street lined with…
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English music? Tim hides his Welsh influence under a Dark Lantern
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Tim Jones is totally over the moon at the critics praising his latest album, Blossom And Fruit. Even the ultra-hip major player in the folk-roots world, the mighty fRoots Magazine, awarded the traditional singer, guitarist and prolific songwriter and his band The Dark Lanterns a massive five stars and placed Blossom And Fruit in their…
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Welsh shanties will cross the Atlantic once again, thanks to £63,000 Arts and Humanities Research Council grant
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A new project to incorporate a pivotal collection – which includes 50 shanties and forebitters of the South Wales tall-ship sailors, thought to be long-lost for 50 years – into the world’s largest online searchable database of folk songs and music has been announced. The digitised collection of James Madison Carpenter, which has previously only…
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Porthcawl celebration is just sheer Celtic magic
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CWLWM CELTAIDD: Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl, March 9-12, 2017: The good folk of Porthcawl didn’t know what had hit them; packed away in the Grand Pavilion, a flood of wonderful Celtic Magic bubbled, steamed and roared, and dancers and musicians from Wales, Cornwall, The Isle Of Man, Ireland and Scotland played, partied and delivered such jaw-dropping,…
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Jim and his box squeeze out a canny proud tradition
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JIM BAINBRIDGE: Llantrisant Folk Club, Pontyclun Institute Athletic Club, March 8, 2017 Jim has been travelling all through his long life, far and wide; from the Marsden Folk Club in the Tyneside town of South Shields, where he was a member of The Marsden Rattlers ceilidh band, to Kent, West Cork in Ireland (where he…
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Celtic magicians steal the show by fiddling up a storm
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THE CELTIC FIDDLE FESTIVAL: Roots Unearthed, Lefel 3 Lounge, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, February 21, 2017 The Celtic Fiddle Festival were celebrating 25 years of performing together with a special tour, and the Lefel 3 Lounge was crowded out with eager punters all hoping to see and hear the latest fireworks – and they were…
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Jigantic night as triumphant band go down a storm
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THE JIGANTICS: Llantrisant Folk Club, Pontyclun Institute Athletic Club, September 14, 2016 The Jigantics are an amazing phenomenon. The five musicians break every rule in the folk-police book as they deliver their interpretations of yee-haw country hits, Chuck Berry rock material and a welter of Americana, all richly ladled into exquisite guitar riffs, drum rolls,…