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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
JOSIENNE CLARKE & BEN WALKER, THE MAVRON QUARTET: Folk Prom, Roots Unearthed, L3 Lounge, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, July 24, 2017 It was the annual Summer Proms at St David’s Hall, and the Roots Unearthed series staged a very special and unique Monday night concert: the mesmerising voice and songwriting of Josienne Clarke and Ben…
ELFEN: Llantrisant Folk Club, Pontyclun Athletic Club, July 26, 2017 It’s Summer and the folk scene’s Silly Season, and most clubs go on their extended holidays and don’t start again until September – which makes it all the more remarkable that spectacular trio Elfen played to a crowded room, and Llantrisant Folk Club organisers had…