Ten musicians selected for exciting new project 10 in a Bus that aims to reinterpret traditional Welsh folk music

Trac, Wales’s folk development organisation, is pleased to announce the ten very different musicians that will be taking part in their exciting new project, 10 in a Bus, which aims to reinterpret and demystify traditional Welsh folk music. 

Chosen from an open application process, ‘The 10’ have musical backgrounds ranging from rock, pop and indie to classical, folk and jazz, and play a wide variety of instruments between them, including violin, trumpet, harp, cello, flute, Bodhran, horn, ukulele, guitar and even Javanese gamelan instruments and the musical saw! Aged between 20 and 37, ‘The 10’ include Gwilym Bowen Rhys from rock/pop band Y Bandana, winner of France 3 TV’s Album of the Year award Lleuwen Steffan, one half of “Welsh Beck” outfit John Mouse Craig Chapman and professional harpist Gwen Mairi Yorke.

10 in a Bus will give ‘The 10’ the opportunity of coming together to research their musical roots and to reinterpret Welsh traditional music in a way that is relevant to them, and to audiences of today. 

The project will be divided into three phases. Beginning with the research phase in February, the ten musicians will travel around Wales, visiting the sound archives in St Fagan’s, the National Library’s music collections, as well as meeting some of Wales’s ‘tradition bearers’ and ethnomusicologists. After a break, the musicians will reassemble for a week-long writing retreat at Tŷ Newydd, Llanystumdwy. They will be encouraged to work together to re-interpret the traditional material, as well as composing new work based on their experiences during the research phase. After another break, the entire group will reassemble to record an album of all the material. At the end of the recording process, a concert will be held as part of a tour that will take the new work around Wales, and hopefully further afield in 2014.

One of ‘The 10’, Craig Chapman, comments: 

“I’m really looking forward to adding a modern edge to our Welsh folk music, but not forgetting the traditions and heritage that is so passionately embedded in our respected folk scene.”

Trac’s Project Officer Angharad Jenkins comments:

“We are delighted to announce the 10 musicians that will take part in 10 In A Bus, and the mix of skills, experience and musical backgrounds and influences we have within the 10 is fantastic. The aim of this project is to reinvigorate Wales’s music traditions in a new and creative way and I have no doubt that these 10 musicians are the right people for the job! And with the world music trade fair WOMEX coming to Cardiff in October this year, 10 in a Bus will really help to put music in Wales in the international spotlight.”

For further information on 10 In A Bus, visit Trac’s website www.trac-cymru.org