Master of The Crwth - Digon o Grwth

An in depth interview with the Master of the Crwth plus 17 original tracks which can be embedded in other sites. A major resource for lovers of Welsh and traditional Celtic music everywhere. Read The Full Article - Master of The Crwth - Digon o Grwth

"The Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons" An Interview with David Western.

AmeriCymru: What is a lovespoon and what is it for? Are there comparable or similar customs in other cultures?

David: "A lovespoon is a heavily ornamented, non-functional gift of love or strong emotion. How's that for dry? Originally, it was a handmade spoon given by its maker to the girl who had captivated his heart in the hopes its acceptance would lead to the beginnings of a courtship. The custom was known throughout Wales and was known to exist in Sweden, the Alpine regions and even down to Hungary; it is even reputed to have occured in areas of Spain, France, Italy and Greece. It is in Wales however,that the lovespoon has survived the industrial revolution and it is the only country where it has survived in a notable fashion."

AmeriCymru: How did you become involved in carving spoons?

David: "My usual line is that I am too small for rugby and I lack the voice for choral singing, but I am a dab hand with a knife so lovespoon carving was a good way to stay Welsh! It is, of course, much more complicated and longwinded than that, but hiraeth and a desire to hold onto an element of Welshness was certainly at the root of it."

AmeriCymru: Who do you carve them for and what do your customers want from a lovespoon?

David: "The vast majority of my lovespoons are carved to commission order for clients who wish to create an heirloom gift expressing something 'of them' in a meaningful and emotional way. Both I and my customers want a lovespoon which says 'who they are' and what is good about them and their lives. That is a pretty tall order for a little piece of wood, but a lovespoon can deliver that result in a way few other things can."

AmeriCymru: Can you tell us something about the design elements of a lovespoon? Are there classic patterns that have particular meanings?

David: "Lovespoons are reknowned for their symbolism and abilities to 'tell stories'. How much of this truly goes back to the old days is still open for debate, but modern lovespoons have developed a large number of well known symbols which can be used to send messages of emotion. New symbols are constantly being added to the repertoire as lovespoon carving is a tradition in constant flux. Some symbols are famous and well known; hearts for love, diamonds for prosperity, horseshoes for good luck, others are more controversial; the comma shaped 'soul symbol', chain link or balls in cages for number of children or security. Symbols are even used on spoons which may only have relevance for the person receiving the spoon."

Find more photos like this on Americymru

AmeriCymru: Do you include both those classic elements and your own creations in your spoons?

David: "Although many of my designs can stray a good distance from 'classic design', I do keep a foot fairly firmly in tradition. My spoons are all carved from a single piece of wood as is the traditonal method and all strive to capture as much emotion as I can. In this sense they are very traditional."

AmeriCymru: Do you have a particular favorite design or element that you like or like to carve?

David: "I don't really have favourites, I really do just enjoy carving! I will occasionally go through phases where I am particularly happy carving leaves or hearts or doing Celtic knotwork, but for the most part I like it all equally."

AmeriCymru: How do you arrive at the design for a spoon for a client?

David: "Whenever possible, I work with my clients to capture as many of their ideas and emotions as I can in the design. We discuss things which are important to them in their lives and look for ways to symbolize them in the spoon. It is important that they and their lives be represented as much as possible and it is this which gives the spoon a deeper meaning for them."

AmeriCymru: You've created spoons for individual clients but you also have spoons on display in collections. Where can people see your work?

David: "Except for the occasional piece I do for myself and a piece collected by the National History Museum of Wales at St Fagans near Cardiff, all of my work goes to private collection. My pieces are very personal and emotional pieces which are carved for their owners expressly. I do, however, keep a large selection of photographs on my website at www.davidwesternlovespoons.com and there is a large gallery of my work in "The Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons" as well."

AmeriCymru: Is there any one piece you are most proud of?

David: "My favorite piece is actually a collection of four spoons very simply carved from a spectacular piece of spalted maple. I did very little carving on the wood except add the occassional heart and a bowl to each piece. The simplicity of the shapes and the stunning beauty of the wood do and say everything. The might not be to everyone's taste, but that is the nice thing about lovespoons...there's something for everyone!!"

AmeriCymru: You have recently written a book. How does it feel to be a published author?

David: "It is a tremendous feeling to get a book into print and to know that the lovespoon tradition has the potential to reach thousands of people throughout North America and the UK. Fox Chapel Publishing have been extremely supportive on this project and have done a brilliant job of turning my scribbles and pictures into a beautiful book. I'm very proud of myself of course, but I feel as much or more pride for the lovespoons and the tradition which is being brought to the bookbuying world! The book, entitled "The Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons" is available from Fox Chapel Publishing, Amazon, Borders or from your local book dealer."

AmeriCymru: Is the book aimed at absolute beginners? Could a novice acquire the skills to produce a lovespoon by reading your book?

David: "While the primary thrust of the book is to assist the complete beginner to understand the process of carving a lovespoon, intermediate and even advanced carvers and woodworkers will also find plenty to interest, inspire and challenge them. The book is the most complete collection of valuable information on the history and methods of lovespoon carving currently available and I hope it will inspire lots of carvers both novice and more experienced to take up this wonderful tradition."

AmeriCymru: Should there be more lovespoons in the world? What could be done to make the custom of giving and receiving lovespoons more widely known and practiced?

David: "Lovespoons, by their nature, are messages of love and deep caring. In our rush-rush world of plastic sentiment, there is always room for these genuine expressions of emotion. Before the industrial revolution, a lovespoon was THE way to show love and affection, so the question is, are we any better off without them? I think the answer is a resounding no ! I think the Welsh have done the lovespoon a great service by embracing it as an icon and I think that will help to secure its survival for the next while, however, the cheapening and mass producing of the lovespoon (while flooding the market with inexpensive product) threatens to sterilize and distort the lovespoon. It is when the spoons are created by hand and for an emotional purpose they have their greatest power and it is this legacy which needs to be encouraged."

David Llewellyn Wins John Lennon Songwriting Contest ( Folk Category ) With Song About Welsh Coal Mines

Singer-songwriter David Llewllyn, of Welsh birth and Nashville, Tennessee residence, is the grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest's Folk category for his coal miner's lament on the sacrifice of his child to the life of the mine, "Take Us Down," (lyrics below).

The John Lennon Songwriting Contest is an international competition, open to amateur and professional songwriters since 1997. The Contest features two sessions, with 72 Finalists, 24 Grand Prize Winners, 12 Lennon Award Winners and 1 Maxell Song of the Year, twelve categories: Rock, Country, Jazz, Pop, World, Rhythm & Blues, Hip Hop, Gospel/Inspirational, Latin, Electronic, Folk, and Children's. This years' judges included The Bacon Brothers, Natasha Bedingfield, rap ensemble D12, Fergie, singer-songwriter Jesse Harris, Al Jarreau, Sony A&R VP Ken Komisar, VP of A&R, John Legend, Columbia Senior A&R Director and radio and tv host Matt Pinfield, singer-songwriter Ryan Sham, Australia's "The Veronicas" and Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir.

David Llewellyn left the mining valleys of south Wales to pursue a career as a musician at 17, the first generation in his family to not go down into the pit. David played Welsh and English working men's clubs for the next hard-working ten years, until hearing Randy Travis introduced him to the organic, instrumental honesty of American country music and pointed him to Nashville, where he's mostly been since.

So, David, how does it feel to be the winner?

"You get lots of pats on the back after performing at gigs etc. Everybody’s happy, some are drunk, some love the way you sing, but this is purely an award for songwriting – looked at in the cold light of day. They are much harder to get and this is a pretty big one. I feel greatly honored. Now, where did I put my acceptance speech . . . :O)"

How did you find out your song won?

"I was sitting in the departure lounge of the Dallas airport at 5am waiting to fly back to Nashville, and just checking my email. A friend had sent me a email which just said “Congrats”. I dug around and there it was! Problem was, it was 5am, so I couldn’t call anyone – I then had to sit on the plane for three hours without any cell phone service! The guy next to me on the plane thought I was nuts, and just went back to sleep."

Did you expect to win, what did you think about your chances when you submitted your song? Were you waiting impatiently to hear back or were you more blase' about it?

"It’s a Sonic bids thing. You hit the button, and off goes your submission. I never thought a little Welsh coal mining song had a chance in hell of doing anything at a prestigious international contest like this. But I did like the logo – a John Lennon self portrait – and thought why not. No guts, no glory!"

Did you know anything about your competition or hear their submissions?

"No, not a thing."

Tell us about your process in creating this song - how did it get written, what inspired it?

"I cannot answer this question without mentioning my manager, Kari Estrin. It’s easy to get lost in the 40,000 songwriters in Nashville. We are all trying to hit that small target, to get that cut on Music Row. It makes us want to fit in. Kari took one look at me and said “Hang on, your Welsh. That’s what makes you stand out.” DUH! She booked a few clubs in the UK, and we visited 'my' Wales. She made me see it through her eyes. She was with me when I went down 'Big Pit', a historically preserved coal mine, and we got talk to the old miners who are the tour guides now. They were fantastic. They took us on a personal, extended tour with lots of stories and descriptions of just how brutally hard life 'underground' was a 100 years ago. I was lucky enough to be part of the first generation not to go 'down', but the generations before me did, and it brought back early memories for me. 'Take Us Down' is based on their words, their stories. I asked, 'I bet you’re glad not to have to do all that now?' and their answer surprised me: 'Naw, we miss it bad. We miss the comradery, the community. It bonded us together somehow. Together we could make it through, no matter what.'"

How would you describe your sound? A particular genre or mix of genres?

"To keep a loooooong story short - My mother loved the “Crooners” Bing Crosby, Jim Reeves etc. and I think I learned to sing singing along to Nat King Cole. The Beatles hit when I was seven or eight and were everything. The American singer/songwriters returned that invasion in the early seventies – John Denver, Don McClain, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, so many, and all of a sudden, I was playing guitar (or at least trying to). Ten years, full-time doing the workmen’s clubs of South Wales and England, singing through God awful P.A. systems, choking down clouds of cigarette smoke (and the slightly more than occasional draught beer) will certainly hone your sound.

"Then to America and Country music. I spent four years playing the Honky Tonks around Austin Texas, three or four hour gigs, three or four nights a week. Then I moved to Nashville in ‘96 where I’ve sung a ton of Country demos and really, really learned how to write songs. And finally, the last few years, I’ve spent looking back over my shoulder to my real home, my childhood in Mountain Ash and the small coal mining valleys of South Wales. I sing about this now – sometimes the Welsh accent pops out. The grit and tears are just under the surface when I think back with fondness to that community, that safe, dirty, rainy, grey valley. I hear all of the above influences melding together in my voice, my songs. An overnight success? Hardly, but it’s been fun."

Is there a usual pattern to your process, ie; do you get lyrics first or melody or story? Do songs mostly come to you whole or have to be built?

"No. No real pattern, but I do recognize when the 'muse' is around. She comes and goes when she wants to - just got to make yourself available as often as possible, and don’t stop writing until she’s gone. Sometimes it’s a good topic, something you really want to write about, or maybe a great hook or title. Either way I might jot down a bunch of related ideas, but at some point I want to set that hook to music. I’ll sing it, usually with guitar, trying different melodies, rhythms etcetera, until it feels natural, conversational. There is music built into speech, I try to find it. And there, somehow, we have the key, the tempo, the groove, the genre, the seed. From there it’s just a matter of letting it grow without pruning your rose bush into a privet hedge. Some can just pour out in the time it takes to sing the damn thing, sometimes it’s months. The melody for the winning song 'Take Us Down' took a few minutes but the words percolated in my head for several months. A lot of them being honed down during a couple of 14 hours road trips – Nashville to Austin Texas. You have to keep a tape recorder with you at all times!"

Are there any musicians that you would particularly name as your influences or inspiration? Anyone you'd be happy to hear in your own music?

"It’s the singer/songwriters here on the road that I listen to now. Great performers. Great writers. They could so easily be the James Taylor or Elton John or Carole King or Buddy Holly of this generation but the U.S., and particularly it’s tight genre radio, is so difficult to break into. Please check out people like Tom Kimmel, Pearce Pettis, Dana Cooper, Darryl Scott . . . All my top 40 myspace friends."

As an artist, what work are you the happiest with, most proud of? What do you think is your best work?

"My newest song. You’ve got to be blown away by your current song or project, or why do it!"

You're in Nashville today but you're from Wales - how was it coming from Wales to the the US music scene?"

"My twin sister moved to Austin Texas in her early 20’s. She sent me, and my mother, airplane tickets to come to her wedding. I was 30, frustrated with the computers/samplers/pop music in the British charts, and the 'Your songs are too Country – try America' responses from London music publishers. I just fell in love with the Austin vibe, the climate, the evenings spent out on the front porch sitting and strumming with so many good players. It took 5 years to organize, to sell everything, but even though it probably meant sleeping in my car for awhile (and it did) I knew I had to try it. I’m so glad I did. Now I get to go back to Wales/UK a couple of times a year, and hey, I can even get the gigs back home that I never could while I lived there!"

TAKE US DOWN ©2006 ( and other songs ) by David Llewellyn
"A child's first day down a Welsh coal mine His father's feelings . . ."

Lyrics, "Take Us Down"

Take us down my friend, and quickly
Take us down lest we wise up
Take us down to make a living
Count us down, and count us up

Here is my son, who stands beside me
The pride and joy of Mountain Ash
Better hold on tight to my leg boy
This old cage goes down real fast
And I can't believe I ask you
Aw, to fill a miner's shoes
They don't make a miner's cap
For one as small as you

And with eyes as big as saucers
You stick out your little chin
And that would fill me up with pride inside
If I didn't feel so ill

Give him chance you ugly bastards
It's his first time, it's his first day
And they all stopped with all their joking
Cause they all started 'exact same way
Heed ye well those sweet gray ponies
Oh, they were once as white as snow
But they've been blinded by the darkness
They'll trample you and never know

Kneel right here, right here beside me
And catch the coal as it come loose
They're only paying for the lumps today
All the small coal ain't no use
And host it up into that hopper
So they can weigh our sweat and blood
Paying pittance for our labor
In this hell hole that we've dug

And let me host you on my shoulders
Cause this shift is nearly done
And we'll march through town triumphant
But you'll cry when you see mum

You always were a dirty muchen
But coal, it gets beneath the skin
You can scrub to wash it all away
But that's a battle you won't win
So let me dry you in this towel
'N carry you upstairs to bed
Just the way that my dad did for me
And I'll cry like my dad did

Better count those toes and fingers
Take a deep breath while you can
Best forget about that schooling
Cause today you became a man

But it cuts a deeper sorrow
Starting you off down the mine
Cause it’ll kill you soon or later
It just bides it’s own sweet time

So take us down my friend, and quickly
Take us down lest we wise up . . .
Take us down to make a living
Count us down, and count us up

Singer-songwriter David Llewllyn, of Welsh birth and Nashville, Tennessee residence, is the grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest's Folk category for his coal miner's lament on the sacrifice of his child to the life of the mine, "Take Us Down," (lyrics below).

The John Lennon Songwriting Contest is an international competition, open to amateur and professional songwriters since 1997. The Contest features two sessions, with 72 Finalists, 24 Grand Prize Winners, 12 Lennon Award Winners and 1 Maxell Song of the Year, twelve categories: Rock, Country, Jazz, Pop, World, Rhythm & Blues, Hip Hop, Gospel/Inspirational, Latin, Electronic, Folk, and Children's. This years' judges included The Bacon Brothers, Natasha Bedingfield, rap ensemble D12, Fergie, singer-songwriter Jesse Harris, Al Jarreau, Sony A&R VP Ken Komisar, VP of A&R, John Legend, Columbia Senior A&R Director and radio and tv host Matt Pinfield, singer-songwriter Ryan Sham, Australia's "The Veronicas" and Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir.

David Llewellyn left the mining valleys of south Wales to pursue a career as a musician at 17, the first generation in his family to not go down into the pit. David played Welsh and English working men's clubs for the next hard-working ten years, until hearing Randy Travis introduced him to the organic, instrumental honesty of American country music and pointed him to Nashville, where he's mostly been since.

So, David, how does it feel to be the winner?

"You get lots of pats on the back after performing at gigs etc. Everybody’s happy, some are drunk, some love the way you sing, but this is purely an award for songwriting – looked at in the cold light of day. They are much harder to get and this is a pretty big one. I feel greatly honored. Now, where did I put my acceptance speech . . . :O)"

How did you find out your song won?

"I was sitting in the departure lounge of the Dallas airport at 5am waiting to fly back to Nashville, and just checking my email. A friend had sent me a email which just said “Congrats”. I dug around and there it was! Problem was, it was 5am, so I couldn’t call anyone – I then had to sit on the plane for three hours without any cell phone service! The guy next to me on the plane thought I was nuts, and just went back to sleep."

Did you expect to win, what did you think about your chances when you submitted your song? Were you waiting impatiently to hear back or were you more blase' about it?

"It’s a Sonic bids thing. You hit the button, and off goes your submission. I never thought a little Welsh coal mining song had a chance in hell of doing anything at a prestigious international contest like this. But I did like the logo – a John Lennon self portrait – and thought why not. No guts, no glory!"

Did you know anything about your competition or hear their submissions?

"No, not a thing."

Tell us about your process in creating this song - how did it get written, what inspired it?

"I cannot answer this question without mentioning my manager, Kari Estrin. It’s easy to get lost in the 40,000 songwriters in Nashville. We are all trying to hit that small target, to get that cut on Music Row. It makes us want to fit in. Kari took one look at me and said “Hang on, your Welsh. That’s what makes you stand out.” DUH! She booked a few clubs in the UK, and we visited 'my' Wales. She made me see it through her eyes. She was with me when I went down 'Big Pit', a historically preserved coal mine, and we got talk to the old miners who are the tour guides now. They were fantastic. They took us on a personal, extended tour with lots of stories and descriptions of just how brutally hard life 'underground' was a 100 years ago. I was lucky enough to be part of the first generation not to go 'down', but the generations before me did, and it brought back early memories for me. 'Take Us Down' is based on their words, their stories. I asked, 'I bet you’re glad not to have to do all that now?' and their answer surprised me: 'Naw, we miss it bad. We miss the comradery, the community. It bonded us together somehow. Together we could make it through, no matter what.'"

How would you describe your sound? A particular genre or mix of genres?

"To keep a loooooong story short - My mother loved the “Crooners” Bing Crosby, Jim Reeves etc. and I think I learned to sing singing along to Nat King Cole. The Beatles hit when I was seven or eight and were everything. The American singer/songwriters returned that invasion in the early seventies – John Denver, Don McClain, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, so many, and all of a sudden, I was playing guitar (or at least trying to). Ten years, full-time doing the workmen’s clubs of South Wales and England, singing through God awful P.A. systems, choking down clouds of cigarette smoke (and the slightly more than occasional draught beer) will certainly hone your sound.

"Then to America and Country music. I spent four years playing the Honky Tonks around Austin Texas, three or four hour gigs, three or four nights a week. Then I moved to Nashville in ‘96 where I’ve sung a ton of Country demos and really, really learned how to write songs. And finally, the last few years, I’ve spent looking back over my shoulder to my real home, my childhood in Mountain Ash and the small coal mining valleys of South Wales. I sing about this now – sometimes the Welsh accent pops out. The grit and tears are just under the surface when I think back with fondness to that community, that safe, dirty, rainy, grey valley. I hear all of the above influences melding together in my voice, my songs. An overnight success? Hardly, but it’s been fun."

Is there a usual pattern to your process, ie; do you get lyrics first or melody or story? Do songs mostly come to you whole or have to be built?

"No. No real pattern, but I do recognize when the 'muse' is around. She comes and goes when she wants to - just got to make yourself available as often as possible, and don’t stop writing until she’s gone. Sometimes it’s a good topic, something you really want to write about, or maybe a great hook or title. Either way I might jot down a bunch of related ideas, but at some point I want to set that hook to music. I’ll sing it, usually with guitar, trying different melodies, rhythms etcetera, until it feels natural, conversational. There is music built into speech, I try to find it. And there, somehow, we have

the key, the tempo, the groove, the genre, the seed. From there it’s just a matter of letting it grow without pruning your rose bush into a privet hedge. Some can just pour out in the time it takes to sing the damn thing, sometimes it’s months. The melody for the winning song 'Take Us Down' took a few minutes but the words percolated in my head for several months. A lot of them being honed down during a couple of 14 hours road trips – Nashville to Austin Texas. You have to keep a tape recorder with you at all times!"

Are there any musicians that you would particularly name as your influences or inspiration? Anyone you'd be happy to hear in your own music?

"It’s the singer/songwriters here on the road that I listen to now. Great performers. Great writers. They could so easily be the James Taylor or Elton John or Carole King or Buddy Holly of this generation but the U.S., and particularly it’s tight genre radio, is so difficult to break into. Please check out people like Tom Kimmel, Pearce Pettis, Dana Cooper, Darryl Scott . . . All my top 40 myspace friends."

As an artist, what work are you the happiest with, most proud of? What do you think is your best work?

"My newest song. You’ve got to be blown away by your current song or project, or why do it!"

You're in Nashville today but you're from Wales - how was it coming from Wales to the the US music scene?"

"My twin sister moved to Austin Texas in her early 20’s. She sent me, and my mother, airplane tickets to come to her wedding. I was 30, frustrated with the computers/samplers/pop music in the British charts, and the 'Your songs are too Country – try America' responses from London music publishers. I just fell in love with the Austin vibe, the climate, the evenings spent out on the front porch sitting and strumming with so many good players. It took 5 years to organize, to sell everything, but even though it probably meant sleeping in my car for awhile (and it did) I knew I had to try it. I’m so glad I did. Now I get to go back to Wales/UK a couple of times a year, and hey, I can even get the gigs back home that I never could while I lived there!"

TAKE US DOWN ©2006 ( and other songs ) by David Llewellyn
"A child's first day down a Welsh coal mine His father's feelings . . ."

Vote for Val to be the Women's Institute Icon

Hello my name is Valerie. I live in Myddfai, a tiny village in The Brecon Beacons National Park, in rural Wales and I need your help!

Sky TV are looking for an 'Icon' for their new learning channel.

I am a member of the Women's Institute who are organising the competition. I entered this competition and now I am in the top ten!! There are only 2 finalists from Wales and if I won it would really help my village.

My company is, Grandma's Stories Ltd and I write fun educational books for children & adults who are learning Welsh. We will have a Welsh language site when resources allow. The Big Plus is that, with the £10,000 first prize, we could launch our new not for profit company 'Learn with Grandma' properly and set up a dedicated website.

Please vote for me and ask your friends to do so too!

This is vital. Myddfai is such a tiny community there is no way I could muster the sort of support someone from a large community could attract. Especially at such short notice.

HOW TO VOTE

Voting will be on the Daily Express website starting on Thursday 18 September until Sunday only. Click on the link to vote

So not much time to get those votes in! Please will you forward this to your friends too.

God Bless
Valerie

Grandma's Stories

New From 'Y Lolfa" - "Famous Welsh Tales"

Famous Welsh Tales is a brand new book of five Welsh folk tales published by Y Lolfa this week. It is aimed at children aged 7-9 who are independent readers. Wales has always been immensely proud of its cultural heritage and these stories depict some of the country’s best-loved folk heroes, such as Dic Penderyn’s brave stand during the Merthyr Riots of the 1830s and includes one of the best-known tales of Wales – the drowning of the kingdom of Cantre’r Gwaelod in Cardigan Bay.

The author, Meinir Wyn Edwards, has 18 years’ experience as a primary school teacher, but decided to give up education and turn to the publishing world. Having written books for children in her spare time, she now works as a Book Editor at Y Lolfa. She said,

“The objective was to create a colourful, handy-sized book, to appeal to a wide audience – anyone who is fascinated by the rich diversity that Welsh folk tales have to offer. I used to enjoy reading and discussing books and stories within the classroom, and I think it’s very important that we bring these Welsh folk tales to a new generation of pupils. I have tried to appeal to children from all over Wales with stories set in Merthyr, Merionethshire, Ceredigion and Gwynedd, to boys and girls, and I hope that I’ve been successful by giving a different and fresh slant to each tale.”

The illustrator is Gini Wade. The 124-page volume contains full-colour, detailed illustrations that add to the atmosphere and enjoyment of the text. She lives in Llanidloes where she works as an artist in the community and as a DJ. She has written four books for children and has illustrated many more.

The tales are Rhys and Meinir, Cantre’r Gwaelod, Dic Penderyn, Red Bandits of Mawddwy and Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd. Famous Welsh Tales is available in bookshops throughout Wales and www.ylolfa.com for £4.95.