GRETCHEN PETERS: Roots Unearthed, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, June 12, 2018 Gretchen Peters is glad to be touring Wales and other parts of the UK, far away from the gloomy administration-led unpredictability, uneasy violence and irrational madness that has damaged her country’s reputation and honour so much. As she and her three-man band finally closed…
Category: News
Feature, News
by Micktems • • 0 Comments
Live Reviews, News
Allan Yn Y Fan and the Miners make this one of those perfect nights
by Micktems • • 0 Comments
ALLAN YN Y FAN: Blackwood Miner’s Institute, March 28, 2018 Widely regarded as one of Wales’ foremost traditional bands, since their formation in 1996, Allan Yn Y Fan have taken Welsh traditional music all over the world (writes Dave Chamberlain). This Wednesday, however, saw the band performing closer to home with a gig at one of their favourite…
Live Reviews, News
Next year, it could be St David’s Hall for magnificent Martyn
by Micktems • • 0 Comments
MARTYN JOSEPH: Roots Unearthed, L3 Lounge, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, January 16, 2018 There’s an old and well-loved newspaper headline proclaiming: “Local Boy Makes Good” – and Roots Unearthed concert seats were sold out two weeks ago for this local boy. In fact, the seats could have been sold out twice over, and the L3…
Live Reviews, News
Vrï: The jaw-dropping sound of Welsh chamber-folk thrills the eager crowd
by Micktems • • 0 Comments
VRÏ: Llantrisant Folk Club, Pontyclun Athletic Social Club, January 10, 2018 Patrick Rimes, Jordan Price Williams and Aneirin Jones have only been together a short time, but their impressive reputation has preceded them; and Llantrisant Folk Club was packed out to the gills with eager punters just waiting to hear their set. The air of…
Feature, News
Frigg’s Finnish four-fiddle freewheeling fantasia… and a bonus workshop!
by Micktems • • 0 Comments
Two years ago, I drove to the Borough Theatre in Abergavenny to review a Finnish four-fiddle band who rejoice in the name of Frigg. The seven musicians trooped on stage, seriously stepped on the gas and totally blew me away with their fantastic, singing sound that only a quartet of violins can claw at the…
Feature, News
Dreaming The Night Field: how Brummie Stacey learned to love The Mabinogion and the Welsh language
by Micktems • • 0 Comments
Question: What do you get if you mix magnetic Welsh storyteller Michael Harvey, the wonderful and simply stunning voices, harp and accordion of Stacey Blythe and Lynne Denman and production company Adverse Camber? Answer: Dreaming The Night Field, the fourth branch of the centuries-old Welsh-language literary masterpiece, The Mabinogion – and Michael, Lynne and Stacey…
Live Reviews, News
Boundary-breaking Bella defies all those pigeon-holes
by Micktems • • 0 Comments
BELLA HARDY: Roots Unearthed, L3 Lounge, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, October 31, 2017 Bella Hardy is a giggling, chatty bundle of energy, a great fiddler and a spellbinding songwriter; She was on tour – sadly, her only date in Wales – showcasing Hey Sammy, her new album and her ninth, which will be released on…
Live Reviews, News
Belinda and Heidi’s soaring songs tell it like it is
by Micktems • • 0 Comments
BELINDA O’HOOLEY & HEIDI TIDOW: Llantrisant Folk Club, Pontyclun Institute Athletic Club, October 18, 2017 Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow are a breath of fresh air in today’s innovative music scene, which encompasses all sorts of genres including the wonderful world of folk-roots, the indie rock movement and high-art classical. Their latest album, Winter Folk,…
Live Reviews, News
After 20 groundbreaking albums, Martin is still the undisputed champion
by Micktems • • 0 Comments
MARTIN SIMPSON: Roots Unearthed, L3 Lounge, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, September 19, 2017 There’s one thing better than a Martin Simpson long-awaited album, and that is seeing him performing live – in the flesh, alone, with no safety net. The L3 Lounge was packed out in the first of the Roots Unearthed autumn, winter and…