Blogs

How does it feel to stand on the pitch of the Millenium Stadium in front of those crowds and be the guy who gets to sing the national anthem?

 

It is every Welsh singer's dream to perform at The Millennium Stadium, It was certainly mine and I can still remember when I got the call for the first time, it's like one of those moments when you remember where you were when you heard that Elvis had died. I usually do a soundcheck about 2 hours before kick off, before the gates open so the stadium is empty apart from the stewards - it's an amazing feeling, and then to perform and lead the Welsh National Anthem in front of 75,000 Welsh fans is absolutely incredible.

 

Paul Child at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales

How did you start singing, what made that happen? What were your goals as a vocalist then?

 

I started singing at the age of 15, in a school rock band and later on I joined another band who did fairly well locally. We were mainly a covers band, playing Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Whitesnake. I wanted to be Jon Bon Jovi and we were having a great time, playing bars and clubs. Rock singing is, in my opinion, the hardest style to do properly - partly because you are expected to be running around on stage like a lunatic at the same time! This is why I started taking opera and classical singing lessons, learning to breath and project properly when I was 16.

 

Later, you were a cabaret singer on the Spanish island of Tenerife, how did that come about? How long did you do that and what was it like?

 

I went on holiday to Tenerife in the early nineties, it was just when karaoke was taking off in a big way and I was offered a job as a karaoke host. It was an ideal job as, early on in the evening, when there were no singers from the audience I had to sing and I used to let the audience pick songs for me to have a go at. I had developed quite a large range by then through my rock singing and classical lessons so I found I could sing just about anything. I would sing Neil Diamond, Elton John, Guns & Roses, Rod Stewart, and my 'party piece' was Meatloaf's 'Paradise By The Dashboard Light' - both the male and female parts! I stayed on the island for four years and while I was there I met fellow Welshman David Alexander - he was hugely popular on Tenerife and sadly he passed away there in February 1995. I returned to Wales a year later in 1996 and when I started singing in the workmen's clubs of Wales, I sang a couple of David's songs.

 

Now I go back to Tenerife once a year to visit old friends and I always do a show or two while I'm there - it's great because all the Welsh holiday makers pack the venues so it's just like being back in Wales - but its sunny!

 

You raised the money to self-produce your album, "Wales Forever," as a tribute to Welsh vocalist David Alexander, how did that happen? What inspired you do this album, what was your process in creating it?

 

When I returned to Wales and started performing on the workingmen's club circuit, I started doing some of the songs that I had heard David doing on Tenerife. I was getting asked by audiences all the time if I had an album available so I decided to go about producing my own. I wanted to do an album of contempory Welsh tunes - songs that have never been huge hits but are part of our folklore in Wales. I approached Johhny Caesar, who wrote the songs 'If I Could See The Rhondda', 'Come Home Rhondda Boy' and 'The Price Of Coal' and we based the album around those three songs. I had already been performing the songs with a male voice choir for some time so we took the choir to the recording studio between Fisguard and Haverfordwest in West Wales and recorded the album in three days.

"Wales Forever" went on to become the biggest-selling independently-released album ever in Wales, selling over 100,000 copies - how did it feel when it started selling that well? Did you know it would do well or was it more of a gamble?

 

The first pressing of the album was 2,000 copies and it was my intention to just sell them at live shows and small independent local stores but then I started getting calls from UK retail giant WHSmith, asking for two hundred copies per store! We had to move very quickly to supply the demand and, eight years later, that album is still selling all over the world - it's an incredible feeling and with the advent of iTunes and Amazon, more and more people all over the world are downloading it!

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=278809279&s=143444

How did you come to be "the official voice of Welsh rugby"? What does that mean exactly? 2006's "Bread of Heaven" is the official album of the Welsh Rugby Union. Can you tell us some more about that?

 

Although I was very proud of what we achieved with the 'Wales Forever' album, it was done 'on the cheap'in that the music was produced by sythesisers rather than real instruments so when I was asked to record the Official Album for the Welsh Rugby Team a few years later it seemed a perfect opportunity to revisit some of these songs and record them with a full live orchestra as well as a male voice choir. They had never been recorded in this way before and we felt that the songs deserved the very best production available.

 

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=251423677&s=143444

Your latest album is "Shine," Can you tell us a little about it? Where can fans see you perform and buy your music?

 

I have really enjoyed recording 'Shine' - It's very exiting for me because it has a couple of original songs, like the title track and also 'Where The wind Blows'. I have mixed the styles up a little on this album because, going back my early days, I do like to sing in different styles so there are showtunes like 'Bring Him Home' from Les Miserables and even a cover of Journey's 'Faithfully' (one of my all time favourite songs). I've also included a live version of 'One Day / The Answer To Everything'. My live show is something I'm very proud of - we have a live orchestra on stage and the sound they produce is fantastic.

 

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=280973295&s=143444

I'm looking forward to St Davids Day next year when I will be at The Princess Royal Theatre in Port Talbot - it's a great theatre and we have the Ospreys Choir with us for the first time. My website www.paulchild.com has all the tour details, album details and also a selection of live videos from shows and at The Millennium Stadium.

 

I have recently been involved in producing singles for the four regional Welsh Rugby Teams. All four singles are being released at the same time with the proceeds going to welsh Charities. Go to http://indiestore.7digital.com/welshmusic/ for full details!

 

I'm also hoping to be able to perform at the Left Coast Eisteddfod next year so maybe I'll get to meet some of the Americymru members! In the meantime I'd like to take this opportunity wish all of the members a Merry Festive Season and a very Happy New Year.

 

Following the success of his radio and television series Wales most popular weatherman is back with More Weatherman Walks a second book of his favourite tramps around Wales.

Derek says, After the first book, lots of people wrote to say that they bought it and pledged to do every walk in the book and it would be great if lots of people did that again. Ive done them all and thoroughly enjoyed them. Remember, if I can do it so can you!

The twelve routes are suitable for the general walker, and each one has been chosen for a particular month of the year. As Derek explains: The aim of the book is to get you walking through the year and to enjoy the different seasons. He hopes the book will inspire you at home to want to get out and about and explore our wonderful country.

This reasonably-priced book includes stunning colour photographs, maps and comprehensive directions to accompany each walk. They are all introduced by Derek and an experienced local guide, and feature background information on social history, heritage, wildlife and topography by the BBCs Julian Carey. There are also details of walking festivals throughout Wales.

Derek Brockway was born in Barry, South Wales and has been passionately interested in the weather ever since he was a young boy. A qualified meteorologist, he has been employed by the Met Office for over 20 years and became the main weather forecaster for BBC Wales in 1997. He now presents a number of radio and television programmes, including Dereks Welsh Weather and Weatherman Walking, which had one of the highest viewing figures in Wales. His autobiography, Whatever the Weather, was published in 2007, and his leisure activities include walking, squash, skiing and learning Welsh.

More Weatherman Walks is published by Y Lolfa and is now available in bookshops around Wales for 8.95.

The walks included in the book are:


Pen-y-Fan, Brecon Beacons

Newborough Beach, Anglesey

Dylife, near Machynlleth (part of Glyndrs Way)

Pontneddfechan Waterfalls (Glyneath)

Merthyr Mawr, Glamorgan Heritage Coast

Y Lliwedd (part of the Watkin Path, Snowdon)

Llangollen

The Sugar Loaf, Abergavenny

Gower (Worms Head and Rhossili), Swansea

Pontypool Park

Llanwonno, near Rhondda

Bethlehem, near Llandeilo


Derek will be signing copies of his new book More Weatherman Walks at the following venues:

06/12/2008

WH Smiths Brecon 11.00 - 12.00

Waterstones Abergavenny 14.00 - 15.00

The Chepstow Bookshop 16.00 - 17.00

13/12/2008

WH Smiths Barry 15.00 - 16.00

20/12/2008

Waterstones Swansea 12.00 - 13.00

Cover to Cover Swansea 14.00 - 15.00

Today, Ceri and I went to the Christmas Tea, held annually the Welsh Society of Portland (WSOP), this year at St. David's Episcopal Church in Portland.

Americymru members Ceri Shaw and Betty Pierce

We were late, for which we were heartily ashamed, but in time for food and music. They served a potluck buffet, which included lots of delicious things: berry tarts, welsh cakes shaped into stars and other wonderful treats. There were prose readings and choral singing accompanied by a pianist, including the Welsh national anthem and a selection of Welsh-themed items for purchase as Christmas presents. We got to see friends, Betty Pierce and Janet Figini, who are both members here and the other WSOP members.

Welsh Society of Portland President, Tom Owen

It was very relaxing and pleasant and I enjoyed it a lot, although I discovered I sang like a squashed frog, so I made myself sing like a very soft squashed frog, easily drowned out by Ceri, who sounded much better . Next year I intend to make it on time and bring my children, too.

We're announcing a pirate look-alike contest as part of the Left Coast Eisteddfod online activities.The group url for the contest is here: http://americymru.ning.com/group/leftcoasteisteddfodpirates Here is the direction and announcement in the group:"PIRATE IMPERSONATORS CONTEST - Show off your inner Pirate! Win $50 and acclaim! We're looking for Pirate Impersonators to send us photos in all their glory! Show us your John Callis, Howell Davis, Robert Edwards, John Evans, privateer Henry Morgan and last but by no means least, the Dread Pirate Bartholomew Roberts. As equal opportunity pirate lovers, we are, of course, also looking for Black Bartinas and Henrietta Morgans!"Members and non-members may submit, you don't have to be a member of this network to participate, but if you're of Welsh ancestry or just like Wales, please do join us. First prize is $50.00 plus international renown/infamy and free admission to the Left Coast Eisteddfod in Portland, Oregon. Runners up prizes to be announced."Please submit jpegs no larger than 50kb - if you're unable to edit your photo, send it to us and we'll be happy to do it for you. Americymru members may submit directly, by starting a new discussion and posting their photo in it."Non-members, please send your photos to defnydd@gmail.com and include "Pirate Competition" in the subject line so we don't miss them!"Please include your name and contact information with your photo, and a contestant/user name you'd like us to identify your photo with, as well as a brief bio you'd like submitted on our site with your photo. All images must be the property of the person submitting them and remain the property of the person submitting them but by submitting your image(s), you give us permission to post your image(s) on this site for purposes of this contest."The Left Coast Eisteddfod will be held in Portland, Oregon, and as a native I can say that Portlanders love pirates. Many of us celebrate September 19th, International Talk Like a Pirate Day , we have lots of pirate groups in the area and every year we have the Portland Pirate Festival :

Ceri got to be on Chris Needs' show today by phone and get in a mention of the site and the Chicago Tafia and the Arizona Welsh Society. You can hear Chris' show here and it's on from 2:00 to 5:00 PM Pacific time.

Americymru has received the following email from member Hywela Lyn who is celebrating the launch of her new novel "Starquest" today. "Yes - it's officially in print today! It's even more beautiful in 'real life' and the starry background carries on to the back cover.To celebrate I'm holding a contest to win:1. An autographed copy of 'Starquest'2. A special 'Starquest' Teeshirt with the cover printed on the front. Large or Medium - winner's choice3. A handy Desk calendar for 20094. A pair of tiny 'blue rose' earrings'. (To see find out the significance of the blue rose you need to read the story)To enter - just go to my WEBSITE and read the first chapter of Starquest to find the answer to this question -What is the name of the DESTINY'S computer? When you've found it, Email me at Contest@hywelalyn .co.uk before 27th December, making sure I have your email address. I'll get the prizewinner's pack out to them early in the New Year. Good Luck!Don't forget, books make wonderful presents and if you'd like an autographed copy for a Christmas gift, just email me at Lyn@hywelalyn.co.uk or go to my website where there's a purchase link.I hope you're all doing well and not getting too stressed in the run-up to Christmas. Remember it's not the value of the gift but the thought behind it that really counts. Please find a moment to enter my contest."

Americymru members Andy Edwards and Gareth Evans were interviewed on the Roy Noble Show on Radio Wales on their coast-to-coast cycling challenge across the southern US to raise money for the Children's Hospital for Wales: http://walescoast2coastusa.blogspot.com Roy Noble suggested that he interview them daily on their ride on how each previous day has gone, to follow their trip.Go here to look for the show (have to have Real Player to run it): http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales/sites/roynoble Their route is now on the blog with date they hope to be in each city. If you're in those cities and can help them out in any way, please do!

David Western's Lovespoon Blog

Well, the fun stuff has finally started. I've been busy scroll sawing out the shape of the spoon and am very pleased with how the wood has responded. There is lots of lovely grain patterns which should make the bowl and the leaf look really vibrant and the wood has been cutting evenly with no splitting or shattering. Wood this old and dry can sometimes be a bit brittle, but this walnut seems very good. The dowel that I came across last week shows up pretty well in this photo, but won't be quite so visible when the spoon is complete. I'm very pleased with the proportions and am even more confident that this will be a very smart spoon when complete.

In the second picture I have begun carving out the spoon bowl using a hand-made bent knife. These are specially made for me by Mike Komick at Preferred Edge Tools who specializes in crafting razor sharp, beautifully made blades. In the old days, the Welsh carvers used a ferocious looking bent bladed knife called a 'twca cam' which was often fashioned from whatever metal was at hand. Thankfully for me, I can rely on Mike to use the very best steel so that I can reap the benefits of a good, keen edge. Many carvers use gouges, electric grinding tools and curved scrapers to achieve the same ends, but I personally prefer the bent knife.

Carving the spoon bowl is one of my favourite parts of the process and is one I am happy to spend a good deal of time on. I tend to think that a lot of spoon carvers consider their bowls an afterthought with the lack of attention they give them showing up as a clunky and unsightly end to their hard carving efforts on the handle. But I'm starting to get preachy, so I'll get back to the tools and see how things shape up.

Before I go though, I hope that you are enjoying the blog so far and that you will feel inclined to donate a dollar or two to the Left Coast Eisteddfod! Every dollar you gift will equal a chance to win this spoon when it is completed. I hope you'll join in and I wish you good luck!

I'm sure many of us have a number of stories we could tell of wild times in our youth when the most outlandish of actions seemed perfectly reasonable or at the very least possessed of a certain kudos that in today's parlance would be known as cool. The following is an account of a trip made to London in 1982.Two friends of mine called Julian Phillips and Alan Powell accompanied me on a weekend visit to some friends " up the smoke " or London as it's more commonly known. They lived near The World's End pub in Chelsea. The visit was to last two nights wherein we would party as only people in their early twenties could.So on one bright Friday summer morning we left Treorchy station for the great metropolis. We would make a train connection at Cardiff which would take us to Paddington and from there to Sloan Square and the Kings Road in Chelsea. The distance from Sloan Square to the Worlds End pub is about a mile.Everything seemed straightforward until it became apparent that one of my companions had taken it upon himself to go on a magic mushroom hunt. He produced a bag of the hallucinogenic inducing fungus and handed it around as if it were something we could confidently build our futures upon. Being already fortified by several large whiskeys I went against my better judgement and swallowed a handful and washed the lot down with a generous slurp of Scotland's finest.I had no idea what the combination of the two intoxicating substances would produce but it wasn't long before I found out. Slowly but surely I became aware of a change in the atmosphere in the Pullman compartment in which we were traveling. There was a cosiness about the place that I hadn't noticed before. The rattle of the tracks seemed to be actually singing to me and most startling of all was the pattern on the seating in the compartment. They were little stripes of colour that were actually beginning to dance in front of my eyes. This was swiftly followed by a sensation that made my bottom lip feel like kneaded rubber and I was convinced that my arms and legs were at least nine foot long apiece. I remember thinking that I've had enough now. But this was just the start. Powell and Phillips suddenly took it upon themselves to become survey takers and they disappeared into the train to ask other passengers what seemed to them pertinent questions about rail travel. At this point I had an almost overwhelming need to laugh and I just knew that if I looked at either of them in the eye I'd be reduced to hysterical jollity. This happened to them as well and we spent the rest of the journey studiously looking at anything but each other desperately stifling laughter.The trip ( no pun intended ) from Paddington to Sloan Square was the longest 20 minutes of my life - or so it seemed. We couldn't look at each other or anyone else without wanting to burst into maniacal laughter. However, we reached the top of The Kings Road Chelsea and proceeded along the highway towards the Worlds End public house at the other end of the street - which as I stated was about a mile away.Normally I could cover this distance in about twenty minutes. But not tonight. Trying to walk on nine foot legs and having every red double decker bus smile at me was quite disconcerting. That, coupled with Julian talking to lamp posts an Alan disappearing up every side street meant it took us the better part of ninety minutes to get as far as the pub.We did get there though and met our friends over several pints of lager which tasted like nectar. Things seemed to have calmed down a bit in my mind and I had stopped laughing although the large clock in the bar kept winking at me and there was the Viking who was standing at the end of the bar. But apart from that I felt I was returning to normal. I wish I could have said the same for Jules and Alan. Possessed of their new found god like abilities they had decided to take poppers and much more alcohol as we all did. At around 23:30 that night we left the pub in what could only be described as an advanced state of inebriation. Somehow I managed to lose the rest of the people I was with and could not for the likes of me remember where I was supposed to sleep that night. I had a vague idea of where our friends house was but not the exact location. So it seemed perfectly reasonable to me to knock on the doors of every house I thought was likely to be where I should be. As you can imagine the residents were not too pleased particularly as I knocked the doors on at least two streets twice in the space of two hours. I finally gave up at 03:00 ish and decided that Id go for a walk by the Thames until it was daylight.Whilst doing this I noticed some very plush houses indeed and decided to investigate their premises to pass the time as much as anything else. At around four oclock now desperately tired I was just about to lie down on the lawn of one of the houses when someone called me. It was a police officer on the beat. I thought Oh good! Hes going to arrest me for trespass and put me in a nice cosy cell where I can sleep for years. As fate would have it he was from Wales and refused to arrest me but did tell me that a caf would be opening soon not far from where we were. He suggested I went there and drank some coffee. So off I went and became lost again.It was then I had a stroke of genius. I knew I needed to get some sleep pretty fast and I knew I couldnt afford a hotel especially in Chelsea. So what was I to do? It then occurred to me to travel to Portsmouth on the south coast. This was not as mad as it first seems. I was a student in Portsmouth in the late seventies and knew that a return ticket was relatively cheap. More to the point the train would be practically empty because it was so early and I could be assured some rest. I also knew that the train was checked at Portsmouth by rail staff before they allowed it to board a ferry for The Isle of Wight therefore I had a wake up call. So this is what I did. I haled a taxi and went to Waterloo station, bought a ticket, boarded the train, slept like a baby, was woken up at Portsmouth, bought breakfast and caught the next available train back to London and slept all the way back.Refreshed and sober I returned to The Worlds End pub and instantly remembered where my friends house was. When I got there I found out that I hadnt been missed until around midday because no one had woken up or recovered from the stupors theyd put themselves into the night before.The irony of all the previous nights fiasco was that I was as fresh as a daisy whilst my companions had continued partying into the early hours and were well and truly wrecked.It was fortunate really because that night partying continued once again and Alan and Jules insisted on taking the idiotic mix of mushrooms, poppers and booze. I stuck to beer.On the Sunday morning we had to make our way back to Wales. I was ok except that every time I shut my eyes I could see a chess board. Julian was shaking a bit but was rallying by the hour. Alan on the other hand was green. And I mean GREEEEEEN. Ive never seen anyone so ill who hadnt died soon after. He recovered though. It took a month or so but was OK.I for one as you can see will never forget that fateful trip to London in the Summer of 1982.

OFF THE RAILSIn another one of my incarnations I worked for a number of years as a railway guard in the South Wales valleys. The company was part of the Regional Railway Network called Valley Lines both of which were part of British Rail. I was based at the Canton depot in Cardiff and took trains as far afield as the exotic flesh pots of Barry Island, Rhymney, Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil.During my time as a guard I came across many strange passengers; there seems to be a peculiarity about train travel in the UK that alters the personality of those who chosen to travel by rail. Some people go very quiet. Others act as though theyve been kidnapped and regard train staff as oppressors. Others still, develop an ability to lie that would make Tom Pepper look like a saint. However, no matter how eccentric the passengers there was always a guard who could make them look like rank amateurs when it came to odd behaviour.For example there was one who revelled in the name of Captain Chaos. He had been given this moniker because of his ability to make the slightest problem seem like an extinction level scenario. Another was Smelly Evans a man who could clear a train just by walking through it. But undoubtedly the very top of the eccentric tree belonged to one Billy Lucas.Lucas was a guard of the old order. He was in his early sixties, had served forty years on the railways, was in possession of a hair lip and a nasal delivery to match. He also had the most intolerant attitude to passengers it was possible to have without actually killing them.Tales of Billy were legendary. One recalls with a certain fondness the time he ejected two youths from his train for failing to purchase a ticket. The standard approach when dealing with fare dodgers was to ask them if they actually wanted to buy a ticket. If they said no, the British Transport Police were called. If they said yes but had no money their names and addresses would be taken ( hoping they were telling the truth ) and they would be issued with the most expensive one way ticket to their destination that the rules allowed. The revenue department would then bill them and if they refused to pay they would go to court. Billy didnt believe in any of this and his invariable response to fare dodgers was OFF . Such was the case with the aforementioned youths who were duly put off the train somewhere in the upper reaches of the Rhymney valley. What made this incident remarkable however was that Billys Philistine approach had been witnessed by a vicar who took it upon himself to chastise Billy for his unchristian ways. Billy took one look at him and said Shut up you. I work seven days a week. Not one. You can get off as well if you like.On another occasion Lucas was working the Treherbert to Barry Island service on a particularly busy train. So, as he proceeded through the train calling out TICKETHS PLEASTH courtesy of his hair lip, he didnt have the time to look at the faces of the passengers he was serving. If a passenger had a ticket they would hand it to him and he would clip it. If they didnt have a ticket they would say something like Single or Return to Cardiff please. He could then issue them with a ticket from a portable ticket dispenser we all carried at work.On the day in question he had reached the second carriage and was calling out the usual TICKETHS PLEASTH when a passenger said Thicket tho Cardiph pleasth. Billy wasnt biting today so he said without looking up from his machine. Thingle or return? The passenger hadnt heard him and said again Thicket tho Cardiph pleasth. Again without looking up Lucas said THINGLE OR RETURN? THINGLE PLEATH came the reply. At this point Lucas was reaching a fever pitch of indignation for being mocked and said in the loudest possible voice ARE YOU TAKING THE PISSTH OUT OF ME? He swung around only to be staring into the face of a man with a bigger hair lip than he had.Undoubtedly though Lucass finest hour was dealing with a man who believed in the common sympathy we would all feel for a fellow human being in his plight. Billy and I were working a train from Cardiff. I was the assistant ticket collector and Billy was the guard. We approached a guy who was looking the worse for wear and didnt have a ticket. He proceeded to spin a tale of woe second to none. Im sorry boys he said My mother died yesterday and I went out and got drunk, lost all my money on the horses, started a fight and was arrested by the police. I was fined 500.00 this morning and I havent got a penny on me.. I looked at Billy. Billy looked at the guy and said Not your lucky day is it pal? OFF.