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THE MUSIC DIARY…

Welcome to our wonderful Folk Club, which is staging live shows every Wednesday in the Pontyclun Institute Athletic Club at 8.30pm. 

Our Zoomaround sessions start on the first Tuesday of the month (8.15pm for 8.30pm) – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89787380016 Meeting ID: 897 8738 0016 – no password. We hope to see you there!

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February 15, 2023: Jocelyn Pettit & Ellen Gira (Canada/USA) 

From Canada and the US, Jocelyn & Ellen are one hell of a dynamic fiddle and ‘cello duo. First meeting in Scotland in 2018, they joined their musical forces, and have since been gracing stages and captivating audiences in both North America and the UK. From the West Coast of Canada, Jocelyn is a vibrant fiddle player, step-dancer and singer. With grace and passion, she has delighted audiences and ignited stages across Canada and worldwide, appeared on national television and radio, and released two multi-award-nominated albums. From the East Coast of the USA, Ellen is an accomplished cellist who has performed throughout North America and the UK. She has collaborated and recorded with numerous acclaimed traditional musicians, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Scottish Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Performance highlights include Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Neil Gow Festival (Scotland), Edinburgh Castle, Harrison Festival of the Arts (Canada), Northwest Folklife Festival (USA), and Folk Alliance International (USA). Their debut duo album, All It Brings, was released in July 2022 and won a five-star review from FolkWales Online Magazine. Please watch a video of Jocelyn and Ellen (in two countries!) and guitarist Adam Dobres performing ‘Fleur Reels’. 

(£8 entry, £5 members)

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March 1, 2023: Three Legg’d Mare (Wales)

Three Legg’d Mare are a trio from Aberystwyth comprising Jon Davies (vocals, concertina, bouzouki, fiddle and mandolin), Kate Saunders (vocals, guitar, Appalachian mountain dulcimer and shruti) and Dafydd Eto (vocals, whistles, harmonica and bodhrán). Kate, Daf and Jon take great delight in singing traditional songs – and some of their own – in Welsh and English. For some years now they have immersed themselves and their audiences in songs of love, loss, joy, desire, sadness, adventure, madness, salvation and everyday life. A journey through physical and metaphysical worlds, history set to music, a rabble-rousing session, an irreverent insight into past lives – Three Legg’d Mare is all of these and more, woven together by dexterous vocal harmonies and far too many quirky instruments to mention. 

(£8 entry, £5 members)

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March 15, 2023: Baggyrinkle (Wales)

Baggyrinkle – the Swansea shantymen brought together by Dave Robinson, long retired, and managed by Terri Kennedy – are celebrating more than 30 years of singing and laughing together. They have graced festivals and venues across Europe and the USA with their ‘Welsh choir’ approach, and their past roles include a doctor, medical scientist, nurse, headmaster, jewellery maker, businessman and NHS manager. Harmonies are created “on the night” – and although shanties are their mainstay, they also sing mining, rural and drinking songs.

(£8 entry, £5 members)

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March 29, 2023: Mike & Dylan James (Brittany)

Live from Bretagne! Mike and Dylan – father and son singers and musicians,  based in Brittany, are back on the road again with a repertoire of ballads, tunes, songs of love and social comment – many of them real photographs of past life in the British Isles, Brittany and beyond, but sometimes with surprising echoes of the contemporary world.
Accordionist and singer Mike, one of the founders of Pontardawe Festival and for many years a pillar of the Valley Folk Club in Pontardawe, has played all over Europe over the last 40 years from Compostella to Nijni Novgorod, with groups such as the legendary Swansea Jack, Quilty, Priodas and Twm Twp, his duo with Yves Leblanc, Jacal and Glaou, as well as a solo act, in concerts and fest noz or dances; he has recorded a number of CDs, including two accompanied by his son. Mike was awarded the sought-after ‘Bogue D’Or’ prize in Brittany for his traditional singing in 2016.

Double-bass player and singer Dylan also plays percussion and harmonica,
and sings close harmonies; he is an eclectic musician who never stops searching and learning, while keeping an anchor in the traditional repertoire. He sings and plays for fest noz in contemporary Breton music groups An Tri Dipop and Planchée; explores sounds and songs around the East Brittany repertoire with fiddler and singer Emmanuelle Bouthillier, and also develops different styles of improvised music. He has played for indie folk artist Vince Lahay, and often accompanies other artists from the traditional music circuit, such as Calum Stewart, Hervé Dréan and Yoann An Nedeleg. He  is the lead singer and bass player in brass-rock-bass-jazz ensemble Moger.

Mike and Dylan will take you through the green lanes of the far-flung reaches of the Celtic world; some of the paths are well frequented, others less so!

(£8 entry, £5 members)

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April 12, 2023: Tania Opland & Mike Freeman (Alaska/UK)

She’s from the state of Alaska and he’s from England… “Between them they play hammered dulcimer, fiddle, guitar, recorder and whistle, excellent percussion, they sing  and have a wonderful stage presence” (Whitbey Island Folk Festival, Washington, USA). Credits include numerous UK and US tours and several albums – please watch the 15-minute video of the Tumbleweed Virtual Festival.

(£8 entry, £5 members)

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May 10, 2023: Tom Lewis

As winner of the inaugural “Trophée Stan Hugill”, French fans dub Tom “The Springsteen of Sea Chanteys”. Old Songs Festival (Altamont, New York State) declares: “This man knows the sea … from the bottom up!”, whilst Living Tradition (UK) says: “Although I always knew he was good, I was not quite prepared for HOW good.” Twenty-four years in the British Royal Navy “provides him with that vitally authentic stance with which to tackle nautical song” (Living Tradition).

Tom’s repertoire – from traditional shanties to songs fashioned out of his own seafaring background – recruits his audience for a voyage by turns reflective, dramatic and humorous. Born in Northern Ireland, Tom’s Celtic heritage is obvious in his clear, strong voice, evoking quiet sorrow for a fisherman lost to the sea just as honestly as it powers out a shanty “to be heard above the gales.”

With songs that have become folk standards, known and sung wherever great choruses ring out, Tom accompanies himself on button accordion and ukulele – but it’s that powerful vocal style and infectious humour, that quality of entertaining, which keeps audiences coming back again… and again.

(£8 entry, £5 members)

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June 7, 2023: Fundraising night for Parkinsons with Eirwen Malin, Phil Thomas and John & Briege Morgan

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July 5, 2023: Kit Hawes & Aaron Catlow

They played in Llantrisant Folk Club and received a great ovation – and now  they’re back again! One of the most exciting duos to emerge from the UK in recent times, Kit and Aaron combine heartfelt musicality, unparalleled virtuosity and vocal harmony. Using the folk music of the British Isles as a catalyst, Kit and Aaron create dynamic and effervescent interpretations of centuries-old material as well as original songs and compositions, all the while celebrating the timeless aural quality of a guitar, fiddle and vocals duet.

Studio albums The Fox (2016) and Pill Pilots (2019) have been met by wide critical acclaim, receiving five-star reviews and local and national airplay. The duo tour extensively in the UK and internationally across Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. BBC-2’s Mark Radcliffe is a champion of their work, saying: “Kit and Aaron are reminiscent of the late Dave Swarbrick and Martin Carthy… I can give them no higher accolade. They deserve to be thought of as amongst the best”. Please watch this video of Kit and Aaron performing ‘I Know My Love’. 

(£8 entry, £5 members)

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July 19, 2023: Pete Coe

He’s back again! Pete has forged a long-lasting friendship with Llantrisant Folk Club – and here’s the very reason, according to John Waltham of The Living Tradition: “This is a man who never rests on his laurels and who is constantly looking for new angles from which to approach his music. In addition he’s an extremely competent singer, musician, arranger, step dancer and a stage performer of rare ability.”

Pete has had more than 50 years of music-making on the British folk scene. His contributions include traditional song research, song writing in traditional style, the founding of several seminal bands (the founder member and visionary force behind The New Victory Band, Bandoggs and Red Shift) plus solo and duo performances, dance calling, recording, field research, local folk activism in Ryburn Three Step and teaching at various levels. Together with his wife, Sue, he received the Gold Badge Award from the English Folk Dance and Song Society in 2016 for their outstanding contributions to folk dance, music or song.

(£8 entry, £5 members)

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September 13, 2023: Mark Dowding

To say that Mark Dowding is just a folk singer would be an understatement. His accomplished performing and musicianship, alongside his extensive knowledge of the history of every song he sings, has earned him an excellent reputation at folk clubs and other events. His mellow voice has been likened to a chocolate box.

From his first performances over 40 years ago at school PTA evenings, through local folk clubs, including being a resident at Harry Boardman’s club in Salford in the 1970s, Mark has honed his craft as an accomplished singer and multi-instrumentalist (including guitar, banjo, concertina and mandolin), with a varied repertoire from historical songs – particularly those of Lancashire – to music hall, songs of the 1920s and 1930s. He has performed widely across the country and has several radio and TV credits. 

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October 11, 2023:  Colum Sands (Ireland)

Magical songwriter Colum Sands has performed in over 30 countries around the world, confirming the universal appeal for the songs and stories with which he observes the minute and often humorous details of life.

A member of the internationally renowned Sands Family from County Down, Colum established his reputation as a songwriter with the release of his first solo album, Unapproved Road in 1981. Songs like ‘Whatever you say, say nothing’, and ‘Almost Every Circumstance’ were soon in the repertoire of artists from Billy Connolly to Maddy Prior and June Tabor.

His second album, The March Ditch, inspired a special BBC television documentary and songs like ‘The Man with the Cap’ and ‘Looking the loan of a Spade’ confirmed his unique ability to observe locally and appeal universally. On his travels around the world, he soon discovered that many of his songs had arrived before him, carried by other singers and in recordings by fellow performers like Andy Irvine, Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy, Roy Bailey, Mick Hanley and Enda Kenny.

Between touring and recording, countless other performers have been introduced to the air waves through Colum’s work as a presenter of BBC Radio Ulster’s Folk Club programme, he has also broadcast a series of programmes for BBC Radio 2 and has compiled and presented a series RTE Radio called Rootin About. His work in radio and studio production earned him the Living Tradition Award for services to Folk and Traditional Music. Colum has also produced countless albums for traditional singers and songwriters, he also produced four tracks on the Sound Neighbours CD, released by the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, an album which was short listed for a Grammy Nomination. His ninth album, Turn the Corner, came out in 2012. His songs continue to travel and his tenth collection, Song Bridge, was released in 2020.

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October 25, 2023: Bruce Watson (Australia)

Bruce Watson’s performances are joyful and thoroughly engaging, with witty lyrics and energetic presentation. He is a masterful craftsman of songs, be they evocative and heart-wrenching or side-splittingly funny.

Bruce is an icon of the Australian folk scene. Based in Melbourne, he plays regularly at festivals, folk clubs and other venues throughout Australia. He has received a stack of songwriting awards and had his songs covered by performers of the calibre of Eric Bogle, Joe Dolce, Greg Champion, and a host of other Australian and international performers.

He has produced seven albums of original songs, received radio airplay across Australia, and he appears on many compilation albums.  Bruce has released his latest and eighth album, Year of Wonders, accompanied by some of the cream of Melbourne’s folk musicians.

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For past guests, click here

For booking Information & general enquiries…

Pat Smith			Mick Tems
Telephone	01443 226892		Telephone	01443 201634
Mobile	07989 209824		Mobile	07531 812400
Email (click)	Pat Smith		Email (click)	Mick Tems