Eirlys Rhiannon's songs are carefully crafted, emotional and musical anecdotes, lyrically exploring both intimate stories and global questions. The melodies are catchy, haunting, and sometimes playful; her voice breathtaking. Live - whether solo or with regular collaborator Rowan Armes - Eirlys's performances are rich with intensity, with plenty of self-deprecating humour and rhythmic flair.
Sleep - the album
Her debut album, Sleep, covers topics as wide as war, land, love, family, sexuality, alotments, paranoia, defiance, wayward parenting and most of the spaces in between. Recorded by Eirlys at home over almost two years, it features Rowan Armes on piano, fiddle and harmony vocals, plus special guest percussionists Simon Leech (East Pole Orchestra), Yas Brien (dj blackrainbow) and Jason Cook (Blaggers ITA, Spanner), and Carbon Town Cryer on Harmonica and Melodica. Sleep is issued by Robb Johnson's Unlabelled Label, and will be on widespread distribution by Proper in early 2009.
Background
With a background of Eisteddfod singing and church choirs, Eirlys branched out with her own material back in the early 1990's on the stage of Meltdown, in Cardiff's Clwb Ifor Bach. A move to London heralded several years of political & environmental activism, which sets the background for some of her later songwriting. For two years she sang with Stuck In Traffic (also known as the Reclaim The Streets House Band), before moving to Bristol and teaming up with Rowan Armes to form The Blue Sequoias. Collaborations continue with Rowan, whose amazing musicianship (on piano, fiddle and vocals) add depth to the performances.
Compere
As well as performing solo and with others, Eirlys has a sideline in compereing. This has taken her back to the Meltdown stage as a regular feature, as well as that of the Highrise Performers in Bristol. These experiences have deepened her enthrallment with "the beauty, joy and chaos" of musicians playing live.
Eirlys and Rowan's Live Version of Packer's Field is now featured on:
Hi Eirlys Mr and Mrs Clark have a new show "Walk The Dead Dog" starting at the end of May at The Taliesin Arts Centre Swansea 28th and 29th and The Riverfront Theatre Newport 30th May, Cast of 7.....5 of 'em young and talented! Clarks xx
sat 14 feb : 6pm-11pm : HUSBANDS WINSTON ECHO VILE VILE CREATURES COREY ORBISON JELAS JAM ON BREAD CHAPS live at : THE JUNCTION : 51 stokes croft, bristol BS1 3PQ
sun 15 feb : 4pm-10pm : DRUNK GRANNY HEADFALL THE MIDDLE ONES TCKI TKCY DRUMMERS MAT RIVIERE THE PHYSICISTS JAM ON BREAD ROSEANNE BARRR live at : SECRET WAREHOUSE SITUATION : see tickets for directions
handmade tickets are available now, only at here shop & gallery unfold the ticket to reveal all the band times and the secret location of the sunday show
tickets for saturday or sunday are £5 each, or get a weekend ticket for just £8
Sorry no review yet - buried in work'n'lurghi. Love the CD (but review should be bit longer! Meantime: 2 completely contrasting seasonal specials!
Sun Dec 14th Mr & Mrs Clark present a Christmas Cabba Hey! Milgis Lounge Bar, City Rd, Cardiff. FREE! Exorcise the ghosts of everything that’s excruciating about Xmas. A surreal, funny journey into all our festive fears featuring the globally renowned performance duo, the magic of the Milgis YURT, plus Satellite City star Boyd Clack and more surprise special guests. “like Terry and June on crack”. Amy Stackhouse www. mrandmrsclark. co. uk
Sat Dec 20th Meltdown & Secret Garden Christmas Cavalacade A snow-Globe of sumptuous seasonal shennanigans in aid of mental health charity Mind in the Vale of Glamorgan brought to you by two of Cardiff's most adventurous promoters - Meltdown and Secret Garden Soundsystem and including a a 20-piece jazz/ska wall-of-horns, sassy cabaret, top DJs, a seductively bizarre Mancunian collision of hip-hop, folk and scat, and Santa.
Acts include: Gideon Conn, Wonderbrass, Radio 1’s DJ Huw Stephens, Lilywhitesass Dancers, Kareoke Carols with the Helium Choir, and much more. All in a splendid new 350 capacity venue: The Globe, Albany Rd, Roath, Cardiff. £8. All the fun of the annual Secret Garden Xmas Bash with added Meltdownery.
Magical multi-instrumentality, superb songcraft, new comedy and award winning performance poetry, all from some of Wales' most charismatic women performers in the biggest Yurt in Wales, on an Autumn evening! And no credit crunch excuses for not being there - the price is whatever you want to put in the Meltdown Hat!
STACEY BLYTHE A one-woman meltdown, Stacey Blythe plays harp/whistles/keyboard/ accordion etc in internationally acclaimed Welsh folk band Ffynnon. Stacey has performed with Billy Bragg, Meredith Monk, Michelle Shocked, and rising American singer Pamela Wyn Shannon (at last months amazing Meltdown) to name but a few. "Blythe's versatility shines at every note" Radio 2 Folk Reviews.
RACHEL TAYLOR BEALES Her latest album Red Tree - produced by Welsh troubadour Martyn Joseph - takes British folk as its starting point, adding in hypnotic, echoing vocals, subtle strings and country/blues tones to create something entirely new. 'Highly Recommended" BBC Radio 2's Bob Harris "hauntingly beautiful’ Acoustic Magazine www. myspace. com/racheltaylorbeales
CLARE POTTER One of Wales’s most successful performance poets, lived and taught in New Orleans for many years and has won the John Tripp award for spoken poetry. "Crackling with wry humour, affection and defiance".Rachel Trezise
COMING SOON Mr & Mrs Clark & Meltdown present A CHRISTMAS CABBA HEY! Sun 14th Dec at Milgis “like some crazed darkly surrealistic cosmic guerrilla attack” David Adams
Just off to Glasto to massage stars-to-be behind the John Peel Stage. As you do. Hope all's good with you. Send me the EP when its ready!! Meantime ...
Dazzling music! In a Yurt! For Free!
New Yorker "The voice of Katell Keineg is a beautiful and wild force of nature";
LA Times "Conveying a nearly beatific sense of joy in performance";
Tom Moon, National Public Radio (US) "Here are wildly inspired songs filled with literate and mystical images, songs that aspire to the sprawl and sweep of epic novels";
Yep, we are controlled and exploited, but we can limit the compromise's a bit, and lob the odd spanner in the works. Hope to see you someplace, Love Mike.
Good morning Eirlys, If you're in Bwistoil tonight kicking heels together wondering what to do there's going to be a session at The Blue Lagoon (on the Gloucester Rd. couple doors down from the Prom Wine Bar) We play mainly Trad English but with a fair bit of Sweedish, French, Welsh, Scottish, Irish etc...its all down to who turns up. Just a thought, Look forward to later, Graham
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