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,…
ALLAN YN Y FAN Llantrisant Folk Club, Pontyclun Institute Athletic Club, August 31, 2016 The six members comprising Allan Yn Y Fan kicked off the mammoth promotional tour showcasing their lastest offering, the new CD Newid, at Llantrisant – and judging by the roars of appreciation and calls for an encore that went up, it…
LAURA-BETH SALTER & JENN BUTTERWORTH Llantrisant Folk Club, Pontyclun Institute Athletic Club, August 17, 2016 It promised to be an ecstatic, brilliant night; Llantrisant Folk Club quickly filled up, the starter session was cooking along nicely with the two Scotland-based guests joining in, Nanu Bouthillier from Ploërmel, Brittany played her fiddle and sang her Gallo…
SWEET LIBERTIES: Roots Unearthed, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, November 27, 2015 Six musicians, including the charismatic and mesmerising Martyn Joseph and BBC Folk Singer Of The Year Nancy Kerr, staged this fascinating show, celebrating 800 years of democracy since the signing of Magna Carta and 750 years since the Simon de Montfort parliament. The English…
LAU – Roots Unearthed, Lefel 3, St David’s Hall, Cardiff: February 8, 2016 Exceptional fiddler Aidan O’Rourke, master guitarist and singer Kris Drever and keyboard visionary Martin Green brought the Republic of Lau-land to the Roots Unearthed stage when they presented their brand-new album, The Bell That Never Rang; six tracks of freewheeling and freeform…
FAIRPORT CONVENTION – St David’s Hall, Cardiff: January 30, 2016 It all comes round again… a typical Fairport Convention concert tour is reminiscent of the wheeling year, an old trusty calendar or, like another annual winter custom, the hope that spring will blossom for another year. A Fairport evening is like a meeting of old…
OYSTERS3 – Roots Unearthed, Lefel 3 Lounge, St David’s Hall: February 26, 2015 Aberystwyth-born John Jones, lead vocalist and melodeon player of the mighty and well-loved Oysterband, described the stripped-down acoustic trio of core members and founders Ian Telfer and Alan Prosser as “Our voyage of discovery” – and judging by the whoops, rapturous applause…
THE PITMEN POETS Blackwood Miners’ Institute: January 8, 2016 Last year, I reviewed The Pitmen Poets’ live CD, and I praised it to the skies. Now Billy Mitchell, Bob Fox, Benny Graham and Jez Lowe have launched the South Wales leg of their British tour in the former mining town of Blackwood, and the FolkWales…
SWEET LIBERTIES: Roots Unearthed, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, November 27, 2015 Six musicians, including the charismatic and mesmerising Martyn Joseph and BBC Folk Singer Of The Year Nancy Kerr, staged this fascinating show, celebrating 800 years of democracy since the signing of Magna Carta and 750 years since the Simon de Montfort parliament. The English…
JAMIE SMITH’S MABON Roots Unearthed, Lefel 3 Lounge, St David’s Hall, Cardiff: November 17, 2015 It was an album launch party to end all album launch parties – and still the punters crowded in to cheer, sing, clap, dance, whoop and wish The Space Between every success. Jamie Smith’s Mabon had made the arduous six-hour…