2008 Gymanfa Ganu at Bryn Seion Welsh Church

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https://americymru.net/ceri-shaw/blog/26/2008-gymanfa-ganu-at-bryn-seion-welsh-church

Oceans Apart, Oceans Together...

John and Steve met on a recording session several years ago and since then, they have crafted a half dozen CDs of their own. They have delighted audiences of every imaginable kind with their songs and instrumentals drawn from the inexhaustible wellsprings of Ireland, Wales, Scotland and North America. The music is infectious, ranging from the breathless jigs, reels and hornpipes, through the more relaxed popular songs, all the way along to the ballads and airs. They have performed on network television and have been favorably received locally and nationally by the media.

Of their recorded music, one fan recently said, "Indirectly, you were responsible for keeping my wife and I up past midnight. We put the CD on my surround sound system and stayed up listening to it until we forced ourselves to go to bed." A recent high point was the standing ovation at their sold out, Estes Park concert: Only the third given in 30 years!

Steve Colby
Guitar, Voice, Mandolin Family, Banjo

Steve is a multi instrumentalist and vocalist whose interest in music began at the ripe old age of five. His musical interests are diverse but, within the past fifteen years have focused on Celtic, folk, folk-rock and old time Rock n Roll. While his first love is the banjo (both tenor and five string), Steve also plays guitar, mandolin and Irish bouzouki. His musical style evolved from the great folk/Celtic music era of the 1950's and 1960's.

Over the years he has performed in over two thousand shows ranging from the large stage to intimate settings. He is a firm believer in the concept that the audience should hear the lyrics and is selective about the songs he performs so they convey meaningful and memorable messages.


John Good
Flutes, Whistles, Welsh Bagpipes, Guitar, Harmonicas, Voice

Born in Wales, surrounded by music and poetry and instructed in Classical Music since childhood, John is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and poet. He received a Masters in music composition at twenty-one and has practiced his trade -- arranger, performer, studio musician, teacher -- in Europe and The United States, ever since.

Of his thirty years in America he says, "In San Francisco it was Jazz, in L.A., New Wave and in Phoenix". well its back home to the songs, folk tunes and harmony of Wales and her Celtic cousins!


----- Contact Information -----

Voice: 623-939-0209
480-839-6125

E-mail: potelobop@hotmail.com
lewisscolby@msn.com

Web: www.oceansapartmusic.com
www.youtube.com/oceansapartmusic

Madoc Plaque to be RESTORED!

(The following blogpost is reprinted from the Americymru social network blog. It was written and contributed by Janice Gattis of the Alabama Welsh Association. Needless to say we wholeheartedly endorse and support the sentiments expressed in the article..Cymru am Byth! )

I am happy to announce the restoration of the Prince Madoc Plaque which was dedicated by the Virginia Cavalier Chapter of the D.A.R in Mobile, AL in 1953. It was originally placed on Mobile Bay near Ft. Morgan. Several years ago it was removed by a staff member of Ft. Morgan for reasons unknown and placed in storage at Ft. Morgan. (There have been so many different rumored reasons, that we do not know which one is true!) In March of this year the Alabama Welsh Association requested the Alabama Historical Commission restore the plaque whereas it could be viewed by the public, preferring Mobile Bay area. In April we began an online petition which quickly drew over 1000 signatures! Currently there are over 1,800 signatures. The first of May the A.H.C. turned the plaque over to the DAR chapter which donated the memorial in 1953. During May, we petitioned the Alabama Legislature for a Resolution which directed the A.H.C. & DAR to work together and get the plaque restored. The House passed it in a timely manner, but it stalled in the Senate due to a stale mate on the Alabama Education budget. During all this time I had been writing the DAR Chapter trying to find out what their plans would be for the plaque. It has recently been determined by them to clean the monument up as it has been in storage, and is unfit to be displayed. Once this has been accomplished the plaque will be proudly displayed in the garden at the DAR House in Mobile, Al., which is open to the public (http://www.richardsdarhouse.com/index.html).

So, it seems with a little effort, and time our hopes for the plaque are being realized! The effort for the plaque restoration was done by four Welsh societies in the U.S. (Oregon, Arizona, Chicago & Alabama) A HUGE JOB WELL DONE! It has been a pleasure working with each group during this issue, and we hope to continue working with each on other Welsh related projects.

Now let's raise our mugs for a toast to this success! Janice

The Mab Darogan

Years ago a good friend of mine went to Tenby and brought me back a gift. The two prints reproduced below have hung on my wall ever since. I dont know much about them except that they came from an antique store in Tenby and that they are not very old. They are printed on paper and mounted on masonite board. Does anyone know if they are a reproduction of anythimg interesting or significant?

The text, which I may get round to copying in a future post, is for the most part historically accurate ( apart for one howler which was pointed out to me by a friend ) and of course they both reference events in the 15th century which was a very turbulent period in Welsh history. The Mab Darogan ( or Son of Prophecy ) visited Wales twice in that period. If you read the Wikipedia article ( linked above ) you will find four candidates for the title listed in all. Unfortunately they all share the same legacy of failure ( heroic and inspiring examples notwithstanding ). They all failed to create a united and independent Wales. Indeed it could be argued that Tony Blair achieved more in that direction. Does this mean that Tony Blair was the true Mab Darogan?? ( only joking )




Owain Glyndwr



Henry VII

"Shwmae Butt" Gets Its Own Dictionary Definition

This week, Monday 2 June, in the company of humourist David Jandrell, author of such bestselling local titles as Welsh Valleys Humour, a packed audience listened to homely examples of the Valleys dialect being elevated to dictionary definition. English terms familiar to us all, like “bopa”, “cwtch”, “butt”, “jiw!” and “come by ‘ere” are included in a new book by Cardiff author Robert Lewis: Wenglish, The Dialect of the South Wales Valleys. Published by Y Lolfa in dictionary-format, this title combines the practical qualities of a reference book – alphabetical glossary, dialogue examples, grammar, exercises and all – with a general introduction to the social and geographical context of how we speak across the south Wales Valleys. And it’s not just those familiar terms that are explored here. Alongside oddities like “icelider” for a “custard slice” are loans from Welsh like “dirân” for “past its best”, and geographically-isolated strange pronunciations such as “hool” for “whole”. Fans of writer Rachel Trezise’s literary codifications of Valleys’ underlife speech will also be happy to discover her coining of “gorrw”, “gerrin!” and “egsackly” have been approved by linguistic specialists.

Wales DVD's

WWW.WALESDVD.COM
Hiraeth Productions

Visit this website to purchase the DVD's: www.walesdvd.com


For those of you who have not visited Wales, Hiraeth Productions has two DVD’s available to help you plan your future adventures into ‘the land of your fathers.’ Once you have visited Wales, you will want to keep coming back for more of the ‘Warm Welcome’ that awaits you as you experience the beautiful countryside, historic monuments and the wonderful, welcoming Welsh people.

“Welcome to Wales” covers the areas of South Wales.
“Wales, A Warm Welcome” covers the areas of South, Mid and West Wales.

Here are customer’s comments about the two DVD’s.

“Absolutely wonderful, I see you went to Saint Fagans too, a great place for Welsh history, Caerphilly and Cardiff castle are very close to where I live, and Rhossili bay is breathtaking, this video brought a flutter to my heart, and with a Welsh male voice choir too, Thank you.”

“I received the second disc “A Warm Welcome”, thank you very much. It’s wonderful. I must say that you are a very good photographer and the shots you have taken of Wales were fantastic. You have a keen eye for good composition and the colours in some of the photos were just beautiful. You certainly covered a good bit of Wales when you were here. You have probably seen more of Wales than a lot of Welsh people.

View a video clip here of "Wales, A Warm Welcome":

Find more videos like this on Americymru
View a video clip here of "Welcome to Wales":

Find more videos like this on Americymru

To view more video clips on my Americymru site please visit: www.americymru.ning.com/TamRyan

Other Links of Interest for Wales DVD's

Please visit Huw Davies' AmeriCymru link at:
http://www.americymru.ning.com/profile/HuwDavies