Cerys Matthews

Cerys Matthews was born in Cardiff on 11 April 1969. Her father was a surgeon, and the family moved around Wales several times - first to Swansea and later to Pembrokeshire. It was during school holidays there that she first developed her interest in music, by picking up an acoustic guitar and playing Beatles songs and Welsh folk numbers.

After leaving school, she spent some time nannying in Barcelona and studying psychiatric nursing, before returning to Wales. She met Mark Roberts in 1992 in Cardiff, and the fledgling Catatonia was born.

Following their years of success and the band's split, Cerys began to take life easier. Her first solo recording was the theme for the S4C children's show Sali Mali. And in March 2002 she appeared at the Radio 2 Folk Awards to perform a duet with Eliza Carthy.

In May 2003 she returned to the spotlight with the release of her debut solo album, the country-tinged Cockahoop. Cut adrift from mainstream musical trends, and produced by Bob Dylan's producer Bucky Baxter, it was a delightful and playful collection that proved hers was no fleeting talent.

Cockahoop was recorded in Nashville, where Cerys lived, married and gave birth to two children, Glenys Pearl Y-Felin and Johnny Tupelo Jones.

José González

The music of José González is hardly reminiscent of fireworks and confetti, but still that’s exactly how his last album was received – all over the world. His low-voiced, serious and introverted music has almost been hugged to death by everything from the indie crowd to your grandmother. José himself is more than anything surprised. Now it’s time for the album In Our Nature.

It is four years since Veneer, his first album, was released. During that time a lot has happened: record breaking sales, European, North-American, Asian and South-American tours, a shower of awards and the song Heartbeats being featured in the Sony Bravia commercial. That particular song quickly made José González known outside of the indie circuit around the world, and most people that heard it wanted to know more. A couple of years earlier Sweden major morning paper DN reviewer Malena Rydell wrote: “The songs of José González have something that instantly makes you react”. And that’s just how it went; a lot of people seemed to react to the song that was being played during the commercial breaks. Following this, Heartbeats got an almost exaggerated amount of attention, especially in England, Ireland and Australia. From the outside it looked as if José González became famous overnight and that it was a song (and what’s more is that it was a cover song) that was his main asset. Fortunately that’s not the way it was.

Rather, José’s music rests on a foundation that has been built from long-term work, starting many years ago. As far back as six months before the commercial Veneer was being praised by a unanimous European press. You could compare the construction of his music with the research he was doing when Veneer was released, at which time he was educating himself to become a researcher in biochemistry at the university of Gothenburg. He attacks his music almost in the same way: patiently, methodically and with great interest in finding unexpected angles. The work with In Our Nature was to a great extent about bringing out different approaches.

I didn’t want to write about love but find other, though equally universal themes for the songs. These are things I have always been thinking about. But the last six months I became a lot more interested in it after I read the book The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. He’s an evolutionary biologist. But the lyrics are far from biological, I’d like to point that out. It’s mainly the theme that interests me, José González says.In his teens he learned how to play classical guitar and some time later, when he was part of one punk band and one hardcore band, he sat at home writing low-voiced pieces on his guitar. That range of expression, or maybe that contradiction in expression, says a lot about José as a person – and about the new album In Our Nature.It is an album that on the one hand is very accessible and speaks easily, and on the other has a darkness and a seriousness that more than often borders on what should be considered healthy.

I like playing with symbolism. On this album I’ve wanted to bring out the primitive aspects of human beings, José González says.In Our Nature is sonically similar to the debut album, though it’s more open and more focused on melodies. Everything is recorded on tape in Gothenburg, but not before José had practiced everything very thoroughly. When the songs sounded good on the voice recorder he dared to record them for real. After that it happened quickly: it didn’t take more than two weeks to record the ten songs.

Julio Pereira

In his thirty year career as a multi-instrumentalist, a composer and a producer, Júlio Pereira has always guided his artistic endeavors by a sense of the universality of cultural manifestations.
This in no way contradicts the importance of his work in the context of Portuguese folk music, or the importance of an adequately ethnic appreciation of both its sounds and its roots. In fact, his work has always strived to incorporate Portuguese tradition into the aesthetic currents that have characterized a varied succession of “contemporaneities”.
Thus his oeuvre, comprising 15 LPs, starts by reflecting the importance of musical innovation during the 60s and 70s and proceeds to devote itself to a fresh recuperation of the “quasi lost” sounds of traditional instruments — most typically exemplified by Cavaquinho (1981), Braguesa (1982) and O meu bandolim (1992). He has also worked towards a synthesis of traditional sounds with new and ever-changing accoustic possibilities — an interest that was to be particularly apparent in the 90s, and is especially well-documented in Rituais (2000). As a result of all this, Júlio Pereira has risen to the stature of a major figure in the world of Portuguese music of the second half of the twentieth century.
Although his work has not been primarily concerned with putting words to music, a discriminating poetic sensibility has recently inspired him to produce a record — entitled Faz-de-conta (Make-Believe) — where a number of first-rate Portuguese-speaking authors, such as Eugénio de Andrade and Vinicius de Moraes, are brought together.
Julio Pereira’s ability and wide experience are also attested to by a hundred records on which he has participated as an instrumentalist, an orchestrator or a producer. Finally, mention should also be made of the importance of his close association (begun in the late 70s) with José Afonso’s own career, and of his collaboration with Pete Seeger and The Chieftains.

Eliza Carthy

Twice-nominated for a prestigious Nationwide Mercury Prize ('Red Rice' Topic/1998 and 'Anglicana'/2003) Eliza is also the winner of more than five BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. In 2003 she became the first traditional English musician to be nominated a BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music (for 'Anglicana').

In March 2005, Eliza co-presented the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards with Benjamin Zephaniah - an event that was broadcast on BBC Four. She has been a regular guest-presenter on the BBC Radio 2 Mark Radcliffe Show and has made several appearances on BBC TVs 'Later with Jools'. In addition, Eliza has presented her own four part series on the history of English Folk on BBC Radio 2 and was recently the subject of an hour long ITV documentary('Heaven & Earth') and in January 2008 will be the subject of another documentary on Channel 5. Eliza featured prominently in the acclaimed BBC Four Folk Britannia season.

From an early age Eliza was championed by John Peel and Billy Bragg. She's featured on Billy's Grammy winning album with Wilco, 'Mermaid Avenue'. In 2006, she appeared on 'Rogues Gallery' an album created by Hal Wilner and Johnny Depp, also featuring Nick Cave, Bryan Ferry and Richard Thompson and in 2007, made a significant contribution to another collaborative project, 'Imagined Villlage' (Realworld).

Touring on and off since the age of 14, Eliza has performed and recorded with a startling array of musical heroes from around the globe including Joan Baez, Damon Albarn and Paul Weller. She's appeared at a huge number of live events, benefits and multi-artist concerts including, 'Daughters of Albion' and Patti Smith's Meltdown and in October 2007, will participate in the BBC Electric Proms concert celebrating the songs of her aunt, 'A Tribute to Lal Waterson'.

Yorkshire-born and now Edinburgh-based, Eliza Carthy grew up immersed in the world of traditional music. She divides her time between touring and recording with her legendary parents, Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson (as Waterson;Carthy) and numerous pioneering solo and band projects. These include collaborations with The Ratcatchers; with celebrated English musicians John Spiers and Jon Boden; and Scottish producer/guitarist/viola player Ben Ivitsky.

Describing herself simply as a 'modern British musician', Eliza Carthy is only just beginning to reach the height of her musical powers. During a 15-year career she has become one of the most dazzling and recognised folk musicians of a generation. She has revitalised and made folk music relevant to new audiences and has captured the most hardened of dissenters with intelligent, charismatic and boundary-crossing performance.

Daimh

Dàimh (da-eve) offer a fresh, up to date approach to traditional music. An exciting combination of musicians hailing from Cape Breton Island, Ireland, the West Highlands of Scotland and the ever-innovative Irish/American scene, the band effortlessly blends music from their native traditions with a few more tunes picked up en-route. Their music is a very high energy, fast-flowing mixture of tunes and songs from the traditions of their countries represented Fusing together their individual styles on bagpipes, fiddle, banjo, guitar, bodhran and mandola to create a unique and compelling sound, their music knows no boundaries.

Colm hails from Dublin, Ireland and has been playing the banjo throughout Australia, North America and the Continent for the last 18 years. A multi-talented musician and prolific composer, he also plays whistle and mandola and writes many of the band's tunes. Since his arrival in Scotland 7 years ago he has played with Fergie MacDonald, Eat the Donkey and Allan MacDonald's Ais Eirigh and featured on numerous recordings and TV appearances. Colm is a fluent Scottish Gaelic speaker.

Angus grew-up playing the pipes and speaking Gaelic in Mabou, Cape Breton Island. Coming from such a musically rich area it's no surprise that he went on to win many of the most prestigious competitions in North America, both as a solo piper and as Pipe Major of the St. Anne's Gaelic College Pipe Band. Having moved on from competition piping, Angus' unique style has been attracting attention from all areas of the musical world as he is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the finest pipers to be heard.

Californian born Gabe McVarish was twice winner of the All American junior fiddle championship before returning back to his ancestral homeland of Mòrar in the West Highlands. His playing in Europe, California and Nigeria has earned him the reputation of being one of the hottest tickets in the fiddling world. Currently completing a degree in traditional music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Gabe has played with Dibidil, Phamie Gow and is much sought after for playing for dances on the west coast and the islands.

Ross was immersed in wild west coast dances and sessions from an early age. His driving yet sensitive guitar playing has made him one of the highest regarded accompanists on the scene today. He learned his trade in Hebridean and West Highland dance halls and has gone on to tour the world extensively with Tabache, Fred Morrison and Ceòlas and has performed with Deaf Shepherd, Liz Doherty and ec Battlefield Band member Iain MacDonald. Ross is also much in demand for session work and TV.

James is a native of Mòrar and when he is not gracing the dance floors he is on stage with the band playing the bòdhran. His delicate and intricate rhythm weaves between the other instruments and binds the whole sound together. Musically and craic wise James is acknowledged as the driving force behind Dàimh.

Martyn Joseph

Martyn Joseph is a performer like no other. Shades of Springsteen, Knopfler and Dave Matthews there may be - but he stands in his own right, built on a reputation for giving what thousands have described as the best live music experience of their lives.

One of acoustic music’s most arresting artists, the Welsh singer songwriter has been in demand on both sides of the Atlantic for over two decades. Martyn`s 25 year career has embraced some notable achievements including 5 Top 50 UK chart positions, with such songs as Dolphins Make Me Cry, Working Mother and Let`s Talk About it in the Morning, and appearances and tours with, amongst others, Suzanne Vega, Marc Cohn, Joan Armatrading, Runrig, Clannad, Chris de Burgh, Art Garfunkel, Jools Holland and even Celine Dion and Shirley Bassey. He has won fans everywhere with his uncanny fusion of material–feisty, pull no punches big issue numbers alongside stripped bare love songs.

Martyn`s particular strength is in the lyrical narrative of his songs, be they
contemporary protests against injustice and inhumanity, a musical psalm to the
fulfilment and fragilities of love, or a piercing précis of social history,“It`s the song that can soothe, explain or even in a small way save us”. In this manner he carries on in the tradition of the six string balladeer as both catalyst and interpreter of our raddled and rewarding times, our personal and communal stories sung out loud in the spirit of Woody Guthrie, Ewan MacColl, Hank Williams and Bruce Springsteen.

Voted Best Male Artist at the 2004 BBC Welsh Music Awards and with a string of
humanitarian plaudits and awards, he’s a mean guitar player with one of the most powerful voices on the circuit crafting songs with, as the BBC`s Bob Harris put it, “outstanding lyrical intelligence”.

Across a 25-year career, and having released his 29th album Vegas in September
2007, Martyn`s song catalogue is an awesomely impressive archive of our times,
our tribulations, our wonder and our wounds. One reviewer after seeing Martyn
in concert likened the experience and content to “the beautiful business of being alive with all it`s jokes, absurdity and sadness, seared by music for the heart and head”.

Always charming, sometimes alarming, Martyn Joseph is a unique songwriter who
digs deep and delivers an ultimate, life affirming message. One of the most unusual and compelling performers you are likely to encounter.

Nick Harper

Despite being destined to be forever known as the son of the legendary folk/blues singer-songwriter Roy Harper, Nick Harper has forged his own way ahead to become recognised as one of Britain’s finest acoustic singer/guitarists.  Having played the guitar from the age of 10 (he is completely self-taught) and surrounded by the likes of Keith Moon, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and Dave Gilmour as he grew up, it was no surprise when Nick made his recording debut on his father's Whatever Happened to Jugula? in 1985.

Nick's talent and energy entranced Roy's fans and it was inevitable that he would begin touring and recording in his own right. The 1994 EP Light at the End of the Kennel was swiftly followed by his powerful 1995 debut album Seed prompting The Independent to describe him as "hugely talented".
A meeting with Squeeze frontman and songwriter Glenn Tilbrook in 1996 led to his offering Nick a job playing with and supporting Squeeze and promptly signed Nick to his own label, Quixotic Records. Following tours in the UK, USA and Japan, Nick recorded the 1998 album Smithereens with Tilbrook as producer. This album and subsequent 40 date solo tour, including dates in New York and Glastonbury, confirmed Nick as a formidable talent in his own right.  He teamed up with Tilbrook again on 2000's highly acclaimed album Harperspace. 

His 2006 album Treasure Island attests to his ability to craft songs that take in, absorb and spit out coruscating political scorn (as on the tracks Knuckledraggers and Sleeper Cell), social history comment (the title track being inspired by an obscure Liverpudlian philanthropist who employed men returning from the Napoleonic Wars to dig tunnels), the seven ages of man (in the infectious melody of By My Rocket Comes Fire), pride in his country (A Wiltshire Tale is an epic poem to his beloved home county), and turn them into catchy, robust tunes that grab the ear and remain in the memory long after the last track has ended.

2007 proved to be his most creative and successful to date.  Alongside live sessions for BBC Radio Wales, Scotland and a further session on BBC Radio 2 with Janice Long in May, in April he released the long-awaited DVD, Love Is Music:  a collection of live performances, interspersed with insights from friends, family and fellow musicians.  May saw the iTunes download release of his first single Blue Sky Thinking, taken from the new album. Reaching no. 1 in the iTunes chart, it has received favourable reviews and radio airplay across the UK and Europe.  (All proceeds from the single going to the LoveHopeStrength Foundation.)

In October 2007, Nick was part of a team of musicians - including Glenn Tilbrook and Mike Peters of The Alarm - who, on October 21 2007, entered the Guinness Book of World Records by performing the highest ever gig in the world - at 18,500 ft at Base Camp, Mt Everest.  Over £200,000 was raised by the trek (organised by the Love Hope Strength Foundation, a charitable cancer group co-founded by Peters) which will go to the only charitable cancer hospital in Nepal, situated at Bhaktapur. 

  Fred Morrison

AS SCOTTISH piping moves into the 21st century, Fred Morrison has carved himself an international reputation with a powerfully exuberant, highly improvisational style which combines the Gaelic piping tradition of the Uists with contemporary and eclectic influences. One of the few pipers to achieved success in both the competitive piping and folk music scenes, Fred is a master of the Highland pipes and the bellows-blown Lowland or Border pipes, as well as playing Irish uillean pipes and low whistle.

His playing has been described by Jim Gilchrist of The Scotsman as "the nearest thing to jazz you'll hear in Scottish piping", while Michael Grey, in Piper and Drummer Magazine , commented simply: "Fred Morrison's music astounds", and "Go and be gobsmacked," was the reaction from Rob Adams of The Herald.

Fred Morrison was born in 1963 near Bishopton, Renfrewshire, where he grew up, regularly visiting his paternal family home in Gerinish, South Uist. Taught piping by his late father - also Fred, also a notable piper - from the age of nine, Fred Jnr became immersed in the rounded-out, driving piping style of the Outer Hebrides.

His father taught him through the traditional method of canntaireachd, the sung vocables used to convey pipe music before notation came on the scene, and Fred attributes much of his approach to that. "I hear that singing in my head every time I play," he told one interviewer.

Following a spell busking in the Netherlands, Fred trained as a primary school teacher then spent some time as a piping teacher in Glasgow schools a before a musical career beckoned. His prowess on the great Highland pipe had already gained him honours in the exacting Scottish competition piping circuit, including the coveted gold medals at Oban and Inverness, while he has taken the prestigious Macallan trophy at Brittany's Lorient Celtic Festival no less than seven times.

At a time when Scottish piping was broadening out into the burgeoning traditional music scene, Fred was experimenting, taking on board eclectic influences from elsewhere and developing a formidable technique that can put a unique spin on some of the most well-worn items in the repertoire.

He was soon in demand as a solo performing artist, initially supporting the likes of Runrig and Capercaillie, before joining the short-lived "supergroup" Clan Alba (with Dick Gaughan, among others) then joining Capercaillie for three years, during which time he played in and helped arrange the Highland group's music for the film Rob Roy.

As his reputation spread, he took to the bellows-blown Scottish Lowland or Border bagpipes, which have been experiencing a revival in recent years and are more easily compatible with fiddles and other instruments than the Highland pipe, while their reeding is conducive to the kind of cross-fingering and vibrato which Fred employs in his playing. An enthusiastic fan of the great Paddy Keenan, piper with Ireland's legendary Bothy Band, he also added the Irish Uillean pipes and low whistle to his armoury.

While he still regards the Highland pipe as his first instrument, these days his concert performances tend to focus round the Border pipes, with interludes on uillean pipes and a mellifluous whistle. A recent fruitful partnership has been with bouzouki player Jamie McMenemy, a founder-member of the Battlefield Band and the Breton group Kornog, which can be heard on the most recent of Fred's three albums, Up South.

As well as cropping up on albums by numerous leading scottish musicians and singers, Fred's recent activities have included the Gaelic group Ceolas, of which he is a founder member, while his stature as a musician was recognised by Glasgow's mammoth Celtic Connections festival in January 2005, when he was commissioned to write the customary grand opening composition,. He called it Paracas, an ambitious musical journey through Gaelic culture and history which involved not only several pipers but other folk musicians and singers, as well as an orchestra and chorus.

Another honour which Fred particularly cherished was being voted Instrumentalist of the Year in the Scots Trad Music Awards for 2004, which he welcomed as a recognition of piping as a popular art form, rather than as a personal accolade.

A recent extra-curricular activity has been his involvement with McCallum Bagpipes in lending his name and playing experience in developing a bellows blown pipe called the Fred Morrison reelpipes - "reel pipes" being the old Highland equivalent of the Border bagpipe - which have attracted much interest among pipers (for details see Fred Morrison Pipes ).

Fred lives with his musician wife Deirdre and their young family in Bishopton, Renfrewshire.

Breabach

Breabach’s innovative Celtic style, blending double bagpipes, whistle, fiddle, song and Scottish step dance, brings to the stage flare, excitement and diversity rarely seen from such a young group.  Enviable musicianship coupled with a delightful ability to connect with their audience have gained Breabach international recognition as one of Scotland’s leading new acts.

Shortly after forming, Breabach won a Danny Kyle Award at Celtic Connections 2005. This proved to be the spring board from which they launched into 2006, signing to Vertical Records, being nominated for ‘Best Up and Coming Act’ at the Scots Trad Music Awards and signing to live agents Active.
Breabach have generated great momentum in their short history, with 2007 seeing the launch of their debut album ‘The Big Spree’ and first UK tour.  That same year band member, Calum MacCrimmon was a 2007 finalist in the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year and was commissioned to compose and arrange a performance as part of the New Voices series at Celtic Connections 2007.  In summer 2007 they made their England debut with a performance at the foremost folk festival in the country, Cambridge Folk Festival.  This was followed by an extensive tour of Scotland as part of the Scottish Arts Council’s Tune Up initiative.  At the end of 2007 they were nominated again for a Scots Trad Award but this time as Best Traditional Band, a huge achievement just a year after their arrival on the scene.

2008 has brought even further accolades for the band.  There has been a further commission – this time for band member Patsy Reid - for the New Voices series at Celtic Connections.  Then in January 2008 Ewan Robertson walked away with the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Of The Year Award.  Touring planned for 2008 includes a tour of Austria and a series of UK dates, as well as festival appearances in Britain, Denmark, Spain and Italy.

Cecile Corbet

A redhead fairy, just out of a Broceliande tale, (...) eternal vibrations, powerful culture, charismatic personnality” La terrasse Octobre 2006
Cécile was born in Brittany, the Celtic region in the north-west of France.
As a child, she travels all over Brittany with her parents, who were puppeteers.
She plays the guitar but it’s in her teens that she discovers the Celtic harp.

At 18, she comes to Paris to study archeology, still dreaming of music.
Concert after concert in Parisian pubs and cafés, she self-produces her album « songbook 1 », soon noticed by the label Keltia Musique (Sinead O’Connor, Loreena Mc Kennit)

Her unique harp technique and her appealing young voice sometimes compared to Kate Bush’s, reveal a world encompassing ancient poems, original compositions, Celtic tunes and Mediterranean melodies.
She takes you for a trip out of a time.
Following the path of prestigious musicians such as Alan Stivell, the young Breton composer and singer now performs her Celtic and world music with her musicians in France and all over the world.

She recently appeared as supporting artist for many great world music musicians including Lunasa, Helen Flaherty, Ousmane Toure, Alan Stivell or the baroque harpist Ariana Savall, daughter of Jordi Savall

She has also performed at various Festivals and concert halls: La Maroquinerie, Solidays 2005, and International Harp Festival at Dinan (France)...
And warmly greeted abroad: Australia and Tasmania (Australian tour 2006 - French festival of Adelaide with Yann Tiersen and Matmatah), Estonia, The Czech Republic, England, United States (Louisiana, Texas)

In 2005 she was awarded the..Prix Paris jeunes talents musique.. (Talented young musician award of Paris)

In 2007, she will perform all over France and in Belgium, Estonia, England, Netherlands and Germany...
She will also perform in the main Celtic rendezvous of the summer, especially in her native Brittany in July and august for 12 concerts.

Susan Raven

Mid Wales' Susan Raven is a new-age style musician and vocalist with a strong history of musical instruction and ambition.

"My musical career started when my mother gave me a gut-string guitar at the age of 13 and showed me how to play her favourite Bob Dylan songs," she says.

"I quickly moved on to experiment with my own melodies and words, and consequently made a vital and important discovery: a well crafted song is one of the most powerful mediums for conveying your inner truth to another human-being willing to listen."

Her early heroes were Peter Gabriel, David Bowie and Donovan; the latter has himself given her support.

"Throughout the 1990s, I played acoustic clubs of London, honing my live performance. "I financed my life working as a tour director, introducing students from North America to our great capital and initiating them into the mysteries and beauty of the sacred sites of Celtic Britain."

Her debut album, Glittering Cities came out in 2000 to acclaim across the world. In April 2007, her latest album, Ravensong, was released.

Mabon

Mabon is the Celtic music of accordionist Jamie Smith brought to life through the energetic performances and breathtaking playing of some of the best musicians in the folk scene today.

Mabon took the folk scene by storm in 2007 with a series of memorable concerts including Llangollen International Eisteddfod and Cambridge Folk Festival. Coupled with the success of their critically-acclaimed album, OK Pewter – ‘a huge grin of an album...hold it in your hands soon.’ (fRoots) – the band is now regarded as Wales’ premier Celtic export.

Led by Jamie – ‘scarily talented’ (Rock‘n’Reel Magazine) – Mabon’s seven-piece line-up marries stunning accordion, fiddle and flute melodies with a tight, tasteful and downright groovy rhythm section of guitar, bodhran, bass and drums. The result is a unique and invigorating take on Celtic music, with the capacity to simultaneously glue you to your seat and drag you up onto the dance floor!

Mabon's musical roots lie deeply in the traditional music of its Celtic heritage, which provides the inspiration and the foundation for talented accordionist/composer Jamie Smith's original brand of new interceltic music. Whereas many contemporary folk groups endeavour to push forward the boundaries, Mabon simply ignore them, creating music purely for music's sake and in a manner that not only pleases themselves, but all who watch them play.

The Ugly Sisters otherwise known as KilBride Brothers

Bernard Kilbride: Born in Tenby, Dyfed (WALES, UK).First public performance was at Monmouth Folk Club, aged 9, playing the penny whistle with our parents. Later he became interested in the Mandolin, and Acoustic Guitar. For the bulk of his late teens, he accompanied his parents on Mandolin and Guitar in their Ceilidh band - Juice of Barley. He eventually switched to the fiddle following a six-week Tour of Brittany with his parents and brother Danny in the mid/late 1980's. Round about this time also he played electric guitar again with brother Danny) in their local Punk/New Wave band. Played fiddle with a dozen or more of Wales' local Folk Bands during the late 80's/early 90's (Yr Hwntws, Taran, Cara, The Rowdy Dow etc.), contributing to a number of professional recordings. He took over and now manages the musical direction of his parent's former Ceilidh band - abridging its name to simply JUICE!. Sometimes makes guest appearances with Wales' leading Cajun Band - Baton Rouge.

Gerard Kilbride: Born in Newport, Gwent (WALES, UK). On the side of the M4. Learned the trombone at school and played in the Welsh Youth Orchestra, aged 12. Like all of us, he experimented with the many and varied musical instruments that were available at home. He played trumpet (sprayed with blue car paint) in our 'New Wave' band in the early eighties, and guitar with many of South Wales' various Ceilidh bands and one of our earliest Folk incarnations - Colonel Pine and the Pine Kernels. He eventually settled with the Fiddle whilst learning Violin Making at the famous Newark School. We play two of his fiddles. Built with MikE Morgan, one of the currachs used for the ill fated Bluestone project. Below, Mkokoni village school