Main 4K
Sunday 25 May 2025, 19:30 - ends at 21:15
Cynefin and Alaw - Fishguard Folk Festival
Cynefin (pronounced ‘kuh-neh-vin’) is the brainchild of Welsh folk singer, researcher and cultural historian Owen Shiers.
The project’s acclaimed debut album Dilyn Afon (2020), marked the culmination of three years’ research mapping long forgotten and neglected folk songs of his native Ceredigion. The Guardian hailed Shiers as ‘a stunning new talent’ and Songlines dubbed it “beguiling…a distinct debut”. Nominations for Welsh Language Album of the Year 2020 and three nominations in the 2023 Wales Folk Awards followed.
The second album Shimli (2025), is rooted firmly in the customs and cultural vernacular of the area.
Drawing inspiration from living oral history and folk song-poet tradition. Owen says it’s: “a personal dispatch from the struggle to preserve a language, culture and way of life,” adding, “the album is a musical petition – a stake in the ground for the diverse and the disappearing in our age of homogenisation and mass amnesia.”
Award-winning Celtic Welsh folk outfit Alaw has a reputation for bringing together a trio of top musical talents. This new and exciting incarnation of Alaw has founding member Dylan Fowler on guitar, singer Nia Lynn and fiddle player Patrick Rimes.
The band’s sound has evolved with new material alongside fresh takes on Alaw’s classic repertoire. Soloist, composer and arranger, Dylan Fowler has collaborated with musicians across the world during 30 years on the professional music scene and has released two solo CDs on the Acoustic Music Records label.
Nia Lynn (Yr Hwntas) is a singer, folk and jazz specialist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. And Patrick Rimes (Calan, VRï) one of the most familiar faces on the Welsh music scene. An accomplished composer, and arranger, he is a trained viola player and can regularly be found playing traditional fiddle and pipes in folk line-ups performing internationally.
* * * * *
Syniad y canwr gwerin, ymchwilydd a hanesydd diwylliannol Cymreig Owen Shiers yw Cynefin.
Nododd albwm cyntaf clodwiw'r prosiect, Dilyn Afon (2020), uchafbwynt tair blynedd o ymchwil yn mapio caneuon gwerin anghofiedig ac esgeulus ei ardal frodorol, Ceredigion. Canmolodd y Guardian Shiers fel 'dalent newydd syfrdanol' a galwodd Songlines ef yn "swynol... ymddangosiad cyntaf unigryw". Dilynodd enwebiadau ar gyfer Albwm y Flwyddyn yn yr Iaith Gymraeg 2020 a thri enwebiad yng Ngwobrau Gwerin Cymru 2023.
Mae'r ail albwm, Shimli (2025), wedi'i wreiddio'n gadarn yn arferion a diwylliant brodorol yr ardal.
Gan dynnu ysbrydoliaeth o hanes llafar byw a thraddodiad caneuon gwerin-beirdd. Dywed Owen ei fod yn: "anfoniad personol o'r frwydr i ddiogelu iaith, diwylliant a ffordd o fyw," gan ychwanegu, "mae'r albwm yn ddeiseb gerddorol - stanc yn y ddaear ar gyfer yr amrywiol a'r diflannu yn ein hoes o homogeneiddio ac amnesia torfol."
Mae gan y band gwerin Celtaidd Cymreig arobryn Alaw enw da am ddod â thriawd o dalentau cerddorol gorau ynghyd. Mae'r fersiwn newydd a chyffrous hon o Alaw yn cynnwys yr aelod sefydlu Dylan Fowler ar y gitâr, y gantores Nia Lynn a'r ffidlwr Patrick Rimes.
Mae sain y band wedi esblygu gyda deunydd newydd ochr yn ochr â dehongliadau ffres o repertoire clasurol Alaw. Mae'r unawdydd, y cyfansoddwr a'r trefnydd, Dylan Fowler, wedi cydweithio â cherddorion ledled y byd dros 30 mlynedd ar y sîn gerddoriaeth broffesiynol ac wedi rhyddhau dau CD unigol ar label Acoustic Music Records.
Mae Nia Lynn (Yr Hwntas) yn gantores, arbenigwr gwerin a jazz, cyfansoddwr caneuon, ac aml-offerynnwr. Ac mae Patrick Rimes (Calan, VRï) yn un o'r wynebau mwyaf cyfarwydd ar y sîn gerddoriaeth Gymreig. Yn gyfansoddwr a threfnydd dawnus, mae'n fiolawr hyfforddedig a gellir ei ganfod yn rheolaidd yn chwarae'r ffidl a'r pibau traddodiadol mewn llinellau gwerin sy'n perfformio'n rhyngwladol.
