Llangollen Eisteddfod President Terry Waite Delivers A Personal Invitation To The People Of Patagonia

“There is a word that allows for poverty to become extinct, for war to be eradicated and famine to cease to be. There is a beautiful, brilliant word for this – it is PEACE”. Alex Pasley (16), Llangollen Peace Message Winner, 2009.

Terry Waite is a well-travelled man but few journeys have meant as much to him in recent years as his recent visit to Gaiman, Patagonia. This small village (population 6000) in the Argentinian heartland was founded in 1865 when 150 Welsh immigrants arrived here on their ship the Mimosa and now, in the twenty first century, the community has retained much of it’s inherent Welshness.

‘It’s incredible when you walk the streets and hear this wondrous mixture of Spanish and Welsh’, says Terry. ‘I’m convinced that Gaiman is a unique place in terms of its linguistic and cultural make-up and, I must admit that I was completely entranced and enchanted by it’.

Being a predominantly Welsh village of course, music was very much in the air and Terry Waite soon encountered the sweeping tones of a local choir.

‘What a sound! Those voices were absolutely amazing! And the peculiar thing is- if you closed your eyes, and tried your best to ignore the heat, you would have sworn that you’d just been transported back into the Dee valley!’

There was an important reason for Terry Waite’s pilgrimage to Gaiman because Terry is the President of theLlangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and he took with him a message from the Festival- a message of goodwill, peace and (appropriately enough) harmony.

‘I think people sometimes forget that Llangollen was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize back in 2004’, says Terry. ‘The Llangollen peace message has become an integral part of the festival and I thought it would be marvellous to deliver a message of my own, from Llangollen- in the heart of the homeland- to other side of the world. My words would hopefully echo the noble sentiments of the famous Llangollen peace message’.

The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod takes place between July 5^th and 11th and, this year, the festival expects to attract competitors from Patagonia. In addition to the competitive events and the pageantry and colour a series of Gala Concerts this year will feature such luminaries as Nigel Kennedy, Only Men Aloud, Karl Jenkins and Bond.

An Interview With Terry Mostyn

Listen to Circles here:- Terry Mostyn

Terry Mostyn on MySpace

You were brought up in a musical family. Can you describe your early musical influences?

I was, everybody sang, played or was a comedian, my early influences where those gatherings at my grandparents table. There was some great talent, they where hard working people who enjoyed being together and longing to pass on their songs and traditions to us younger ones. My next CD has a few songs I wrote with that table and those gatherings in mind.

When and how did you get your first "big break" in the music biz?

I'm still waiting LOL ... being able to write, sing and perform is the big break in my opinion, I get to mingle with the crowd and when someone says " I like a certain song, it makes it all worth while.

You played in a great many bands in the 60's and 70's. Care to tell us about them?

The late 60's thru the 80's rock and roll was the thing to do, traditional music fell off as the loss of elders in the family caused people to stray apart. Bands came and went as did styles of music,Yes , Kansas, Jethro Tull, Beatles, Deep Purple, Zepp all where the whirl and I enjoyed covering these bands but the second I hear pipes or some old traditional tune I"m back at "The Table". Funny how it all comes back to full Circle.

At what point in your career did you decide that your ambition was to become a singer-songwriter?

At a very early age I was writing trying to tell stories, but how I hated English class. I wrote a song in my mid-teens that's on my Circles CD { Remembering, } I forgot about the song till my son Patrick heard it on a terrible cassette tape. I was in my Tull era then and it does have that blend to it.

How important are traditional and contemporary Celtic influences in your music?

For the last 15 years or so I've gone back to more of a folk rock feel to my writing and music. I love the old songs there the stones I walk on to write today.

What inspired the title of "Circles"?

I was playing and writing in a rock band trying to be Celtic and was going nowhere. I started going to Celtic concerts, festivals and realized I should go back to my roots, I like where I am now, it works for me. My Circle!

Who do you like to listen to?

That's a good question: Tull, The McKrells, Dougie, Flogging Molly, Hair of the Dog, The Elders, Donal , I could go on for a bit and yes even opera. An uncle always listened to it and turned me on to some great singers, couldn't understand a damn thing but the power in the vocals blew me away. I saw Mike Bolton sing opera on TV he was great from rock to opera .....whoa!

Where would you most like to perform?

Carnegie Hall , anywhere in Wales, maybe in Mostyn, I played in Ireland last April did a pub gig in Dingle, sat in between sets with Kevin McKrell of the McKrells at Clifton Station,Galway and the Hotel D in Dreagha, my mom's a Brennan there from Galway, so that was pretty special to me.

Any plans to visit the West Coast?

Yes, I 'd love to play at the 2009 Left Coast Eisteddfod in August .

Is there any particular song or performance or piece of art that you're most proud of?

Yes," Way Of The World " the words to this song came very easy, it tells of world problems and an easy solution This song is close to my heart and I have an acoustic version I play live that might go on my second CD even thought my 1st cd has a big production style to it of the song, we'll see.

Do you have any particular musical or artistic goals or creations that you really want to achieve in your life?

Waking up and playing music everyday is my goal, there were some good players and singers I knew that have passed before there time, to me each day is another blessing.

What's next for you?

To record my next CD with my youngest son Patrick at his new studio in Pittsburgh Pa Mostyn Studios He'll engineer... we'll both produce, we worked together on my 1st CD and I enjoyed it . Being told cut let's take that over or "You can do that better, Dad" kinda makes me think back to how many times I've told him that (100's ). We work well together and I look forward to working with him. We might even take in a hockey game and a few pints.

Iechyd Da!!!