Welsh Traditional Music and Events
When Sarah and John first met in 2000, John had been playing in a Welsh traditional band in New Jersey with Jodee James, a wonderful Welsh American singer. We participated in a few Welsh Heritage Festivals at Green Mountain College and had the opportunity to meet and learn from Welsh folk musicians, Siân Phillips and Danny Kilbride, who are among those responsible for bringing more Welsh traditional music to the United States in recent years. Through our experience with these musicians, plus an accumulation of a large CD and sheet music collection, we have come to know quite a bit more than your average number of Welsh fiddle tunes for these parts! We also seem to be currently among relatively few musicians who perform Welsh traditional music in this country at this time. Our duo, Cariad (which means “love” or “affection” in Welsh), has been giving occasional workshops and performances in Vermont ever since we met. While we do not proclaim to be experts on the subject, we would very much like to share what we have learned with our friends , neighbors, and beyond!
We hope that more Welsh traditional bands will form soon, so that this music will become commonplace here. To this end, Sarah and John created a CD intended to help local musicians learn tunes more easily. We now host an annual jam session here in Montpelier on the first Sunday in March (celebrating St. David's Day), so obtaining the CD could help folks prepare if they are interested. This starts with a potluck meal at 2 pm, which includes some Welsh favorites. The meal will segue into a full speed jam session to which anyone is welcome either to play or listen. Since we do not have all of the traditional instruments readily at hand (I haven't yet met a pibgorn or crwyth player in these parts!), we are welcoming any instrumentalists who can blend in. Fiddles, flutes, guitars, harps, accordians, small pipes, mandolins, & banjos are all welcome instruments, as are singers. Click here for information about Welsh music and instrumentation. The tunes are so lovely that we would very much like to have them be more a part of the local repertoire and beyond. I'll have my CD's there for sale, along with handouts with more information to help you learn more and find out what other CD's to purchase and websites to visit, etc. (See a few good links below!)
If you'd like to participate in our annual event, or be on our Welsh Jam Session elist, contact us for more information!
A FEW GOOD LINKS FOR WELSH TRADITIONAL MUSIC:
Clera-The Society for Traditional Instruments of Wales
Cerdd Ystwyth Music [A source for Welsh Traditional CD's and sheet music]
Welsh Traditional Musicians from Wales who are among those who have visited North America in recent years: Siân Phillips and Danny Kilbride, Ffynnon and Crasdant
American Welsh Traditional Musicians: Jodee James and Moch Pryderi