Blogs
 Jonny: Basically I was in a band in the mid 90's called The Pocket Devils. We became quite well known on the live circuit especially in Wales where we did quite a bit of TV. There was a drama series starting in my home town of Merthyr Tydfil called 'Nuts and Bolts'. The casting director at ITV Wales had seen me in this band and approached me about auditioning for a part in the series (the Character was called 'Richey' and in a band you see?). Anyway many weeks and screen tests later I got the part. From there I got an agent and parts in other series. So, you could say there was a bit of luck! Ha. Ceri: You won a BAFTA Cymru, Gwyn Alf Williams Award in 2006 for your part in the making of documentary "The Aberfan Disaster". Care to tell us a bit about that experience? Jonny: Yes of course. The town where I come from, Merthyr Tydfil, has a small mining village just outside where tragically a Coal Tip fell onto the Primary School and surrounding streets in 1966. The 'disaster' was seen by millions world wide as over a hundred school children and local people were killed. My Father worked at one of the local Mines at the time and was one of the first on the scene to help with the rescue and clear up. Forty years later I was working at ITV Wales as an Assistant Producer in the Factual dept as well as acting. They said they were doing a documentary in conjunction with S4C and SKY about the disaster. They asked would I like to work on the program. Now being from Merthyr I was acutely aware of how sensitive the subject was and how poorly the people had been treated by the Coal Board and Government after the disaster so I said that I would only be involved if we could tell the truth about how appalling the disaster was for the people of the village both during and after. They not only agreed but wanted to go down that path too. So we did just that. We were pretty scathing of the Govt of the time but felt justified when the people of the village thanked us afterwards for telling the real story. That meant more than anything. That year it seemed Bafta Cymru also agreed and gave us the special 'Gwyn Alf Williams' award for program of Historical significance. Ceri: You've starred in a number of critically acclaimed films. Care to tell us a little about your roles in two of them:- "Little White Lies" and "Good Arrows"? Jonny: Little White Lies was about a family torn apart by racism. There is a lot of tension in the UK about immigration. Wrongly people seem to think it's a threat. The truth of the matter is that the UK would pretty much stop functioning without the work done by people from across the UK. LWL tells the dark tale of a Welsh lad who gets into right wing politics with tragic results. It was a difficult role to play but also important and the film carried a good anti racist message. Good Arrows was about a Darts player who has fallen on hard times. He also finds out his wife has been financially bleeding him dry. It's a comedy but also is a sad story about people's obsession with celebrity. Ceri: How did you come to be involved in A Bit of Tom Jones ? What do you think about the final film? Jonny: I was cast by the Director/Writer Peter Watkins Hughes. Years ago (On Nuts and Bolts) he told me Roger (my co star) that he would write a film for us one day..and he was as good as his word. It was as simple as that really. I think it's what it is. Just a funny film. A bit like a cross between Monty Python and the Carry on films in the UK. I just thought it was gonna be another film that went to DVD I didn't expect it to become a Box Office smash in the UK and win a Bafta Cymru for best film. That's a nice bonus obviously! Ceri: The response to the film has been very positive in Wales, how do you think it will do outside the country? Jonny: I think it'll be cool. They love Python in the States and Japan and it's of that ilk. You know, you cant make things for people's taste, I don't think anyway. That way you just end up chasing your tail. I think you make what you think is funny and then if someone liked it then fantastic, but trying to second guess is pointless. It may need subtitles in the US for my accent mind..;-) Ceri: You created and star in the internet series, "Svengali," which can be seen on youtube, what can you tell us about that? How did that come about and what are your plans for this? Jonny: It was an idea between me, Dean Cavanagh and Phil John. We just wanted to do something based on the music industry where (we believe) there is a lot of room for comedy, after all it's the only industry where bad behaviour is encouraged, and that's ripe for parody. We filmed some short Ep's and put them on the net and people loved it. We've been approached by some TV Production companies and Broadcasters who are interested but at the moment we are gonna keep making them as they are as we have complete control, which is great. The main character is Dixie and is based loosely on the manager of my old band The Pocket Devils. I also want to bring in his American partner Bobby Poe who I want Jack Black to play. I must get him the Ep's actually.. Ceri: What's next for your professionally? Jonny: A follow up to A bit of Tom Jones called Wales v's Uranus. We are pretty fed up that only the Americans get to take on Alien Invasions so we fancy having a pop ourselves...  Filming later this year. I'm back on Shameless for Channel 4 again this summer. Ceri: On your MySpace page, you cite the following quote from Aneurin Bevan as your inspiration:- "You know what happens to people who stand in the middle of the road don't you? They get knocked down....". Is it the quotation or the man himself that inspires you? Jonny: Yes but more Nye himself really. Astonishing man who left an incedible legacy. We are very proud of our universal health care system in the UK, the fact that treats you equally, whether you are rich or poor. Nye was the founder of this and Welsh too. He was voted 'The Greatest' ever Welshman in newspaper polls in 2000. I have to say I agree with that too! Ceri: You are known to be a big Cardiff city supporter? What did you think of their performance this season? Jonny: It was a disapointing end to the season...but we have new backers now and I fancy we'll go that one better next year. It would be fantastic to get a Welsh club into the English Premiership as it has such a worldwide profile...I'm sure we will next year. Ceri: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru? Jonny: Just to say 'Hi and Diolch for asking me to be interviewed. There'll always be a welcome in the 'Old Country' for you all and I'd love to drop by to see you all sometime soon.
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"Just The Mention Of Your Name" wins a 'Commended Entry' in 2010 UK Songwriting Contest
By Darren Parry, 2010-05-31
"Just The Mention Of Your Name" wins a 'Commended Entry' in the 2010 UK Songwriting Contest. This completes a run of: winner 2004 ("Reality"), semi-finalist 2005 ("Everything But You"), semi-finalist 2006 ("Stay"), semi-finalist 2007 ("Lost"), finalist 2008 ("Slippin' Away") and commended entry 2009 ("Lovin' You").
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David Western and Laura Gorun's Lovespoon Blog, they've settled on a design! "Ta Da!!!"
By gaabi, 2010-05-29
Laura and I have decided on the final drawing for the Left Coast Eisteddfod Lovespoon and here it is!
We very much hope that you like what you see and that you will be inspired to donate to the cause! Remember - every dollar donated to the Left Coast Eisteddfod can translate to a chance to win this spoon!This week we both wanted to write sections of the blog, so I am writing in regular font and Laura is in italic... a clear way to know who is saying what and sort of a symbolic way of summing up the main fund-raising purpose of this spoon! We do urge you to become involved with the Eisteddfod, either as a donor or as a participant in one of the many on-line and on-site competitions!
Both Laura and I have very much enjoyed the challenge of designing this year's spoon together and are now looking forward to figuring out how the hell the two of us will carve it! Given that we live several thousand kilometres away from each other, getting all this sorted out will be a bit of a feat! But right now, it is important to explain what this particular spoon is all about and so I'll turn things over to Laura! - Dave
When I talk with people about Welsh Lovespoons, I always emphasize that one of the most important things is the message it sends - the general "rule" is, its symbolism must be meaningful to both the giver and the recipient. So, while it's ideal to have a specific recipient in mind when we design a spoon, we don't always have that.
In the case of this Left Coast Eisteddfod spoon, we would assume the recipient will share an interest in Americymru's idea "for Americans (and others!) of Welsh descent to celebrate their heritage and deepen their knowledge of the rich fund of Welsh History, Folklore and Legend." Throughout the design process, we've been thinking of this, along with the theme of "two" and the aim to represent both carvers, and our cooperation.
Dave sent over a few last changes - some leaves to go with the daffodils, a correction from under to over in some of the weaving at the top, and an adjustment to the top of the knotwork to better match the taper of the spoon, and the angles of the vines above. When I look at the design now, I feel like we've accomplished exactly what we intended, and the design finally feels complete. I see Welsh and American heritage represented, I see parts that are very "Dave" and parts that are very "Laura", and, in the daffodils, I see a blend of both of us, and will see it even more when each of us carves one. And throughout the process, I know I really enjoyed the back-and-forth consideration and inspiration in the collaborative design process. And now there are the next steps!
We've already been discussing wood selection. We considered some maple Dave had, and some myrtle I had, but neither seemed quite right. Then, Dave suggested some birch he has.
I have never carved in birch, but Dave's description of it sounds like it is wonderful to carve! I believe the word that really sold me was "buttery" - which is one of the biggest things a carver ever wants in wood. It also looks like it has a lovely, glowing color to it, that would suit our design beautifully. I think we may have selected our wood! The next step, I suppose, will be transferring the design to the wood, in its proper scale. We have been thinking about 17" for the length of the spoon: a manageable size for drawing, and for shipping. And then, on to the cutting! How do two people cut out a design? do we really need to split that step? Hmmmm.... I wonder what Dave thinks! - Laura
Dave thinks the guy with the birch and the saw gets to do the cutting!
Laura thinks that's fabulous! I suspect Dave is far superior at sawing.
Below, I'll attach a series of the design pictures, as we thought it might be interesting to see the progression all in one place... With a darkened version of the final design at the end
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BAFTA Cymru is the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for Wales.
A Bit of Tom Jones , which won Best Film/Drama.
It's foul, definitely, and not for everyone but it's totally tongue in cheek, all foulness an affectionate joke. There's a few raw bits that could have been done better, not flawless, but I laughed a LOT and it's a darned funny film for grown ups who have a sense of humor. There's a lot of great lines in this film that caught me by surprise, I think personally Eve Myles got the single best line which would make a great but offensive t-shirt. I hope Sir Tom, His Royal Hotness, has seen it and got a good laugh, I sure did!
A Bit of Tom Jones premiered for American audiences in Chicago and we were fortunate enough to get permission to show it at the Left Coast Eisteddfod in Portland, Oregon in October.
Welsh language film Cwcw from writer/director Delyth Jones, starring Eiry Thomas, Aneirin Hughes and Rhys Richards, won Best Actress for Eiry Thomas' peformance as soap opera writer Jane Jones, and Best Original Music Soundtrack by composer John E.R. Hardy.
Read about the rest of the 2010 Awards here .
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| Llangollen 2010 July 5 July 11 Monday 5th: Katherine Jenkins Opening Gala Concert An evening of stunning music to begin the festival and celebrate the reopening of the Royal International Pavilion. Katherine will be supported on stage by French phenomenon Amaury Vassili. This promises to be a night to remember! 55, 35 Tuesday 6th : Karl Jenkins: The Armed Man A Mass for Peace. Beethoven: Piano Concerto Number 3, Brahms: Academic Festival Overture. Sinfonia Cymru. Llr Williams, Piano. Sinfonia Cymru makes its Llangollen debut under the baton of Karl Jenkins as he conducts his own Mass for Peace with a Wales and the World choir. The extraordinary Llr Williams is at the piano for Beethovens third concerto. Extra information from Karl/Mervyn. An absolute must! 35, 25 Wednesday 7th : One World, One Stage: The legendary- and justifiably celebrated Welcome Ceremony and Procession of Performers through the Pavilion. As ever, this will be an unforgettable evening of truly global music and dance which is a favourite with Eisteddfod regulars and a marvellous taster of the week to come. Expect performances from Pakistan, Wales, USA, and North Africa, amongst others. 18, 14 Thursday 8th : Shine with the Bond Quartet: A typically eclectic Llangollen mix, with a new twist. Brilliant dancers perform everything from Bhangra to BreakDance. An international choir of 100 young children come together in peace and harmony, and then the upbeat string players of multi-million CD-selling Bond shine and sparkle. 20, 15 Friday 9th : Only Men Aloud: The hugely popular and Classical Brit Award winners Only Men Aloud at Llangollen for the very first time! The boys will be singing Welsh favourites and other exciting pieces and will be joined by musical friends from around the world. Only Men Aloud were awarded the NS&I Album of the Year Award at the 2010 Classical Brit Awards for their second album Band of Brothers. 30, 20 Saturday 10th : Choir of the World and Champions of Brass: The incomparable Choir of the World competition preceded by the world champions of brass! Wales own Cory Band in concert in the first half, before the weeks winning choirs sing off for the Pavarotti Trophy. The Cory Band were recently crowned victorious at the 2010 European Brass Band Championships in Austria, winning the title for the third consecutive year. 25, 15 Sunday 11th : Nigel Kennedy: One of the worlds great musical stars, the inimitable Nigel Kennedy returns to the festival in spectacular style with his full orchestra and band to perform a smash-hit programme of Bach and Ellington which he is performing in Wales for the first time. 55, 40, 25 Day Sessions: Tuesday 6th: International Childrens Day: Exotic Traditions: Be transported to the Indian subcontinent, and Sudan, by musicians, dancers and acrobats. Includes Kawa Circus breathtaking brand of dance and fun. This is especially for Primary Schools and 5000 children are expected. 5 per child pre-booked teachers free. Wednesday 7th: International Song and Dance: Choirs and folk dancers from 20 countries. Also featuring the best young soloists in the world in an event that has been the launching pad for young stars such Faryl Smith in recent years. Performers from five continents on the outside stages the whole world in one place! Pavilion ticket (including ground entry): 20, 15, 12 Ground Admission: 9 (senior citizen 8, children under 16 5) Thursday 8th: Youth Entertains: Young singers and Folk Dancers of the world Join the musical party with 1000 young performers; Childrens Dance, Youth Choirs, the biggest Junior Childrens Choirs competition, and Songs from the Shows. Enjoy Jazz and Roots, Hip-Hop and Bollywood, and colour everywhere. There will be special Youth Day packages for Secondary Schools. Pavilion ticket: 15, 12 Ground Admission: as Wednesday. Friday 9th: International Celtic and Folk Day: For many this represents the true essence of Llangollen: Mixed and Chamber Choirs, plus the spectacular all-new Folk competitions. Folk music spills out onto the Eisteddfod field, with an extra Celtic flavour. Bands from Wales lead a colourful mix of sights, sounds, dance and art to the outside stages. Pavilion ticket: 15, 12 Ground Admission: as Wednesday. Saturday 10th: International Family Day: Simply the best male and female choirs in the world singing everything from Bach to Barbershop. Luciano Pavarotti won on this day in 1955 so expect high standards! Also, of course, the Peace Message will be delivered to the world by local children. On the field there will be activities for all the family; music, dance, arts, crafts, story-telling, and competitions. Pavilion ticket: 20, 15, 12 Ground Admission: as Wednesday but note that Family ticket @ 20 Sunday 11th: During the day, the festival spills out into the town in a carnival atmosphere. Music all over Llangollen! This is the Peoples Day with local, regional, and international performers combining their talents. A relaxed day for everyone, culminating in the evening concert of course! Further details later. Tickets: 5 adults, 1 for children under 16. Season Tickets: This year sees an expanded range of Season Ticket offers; the full Season from 2009 is now known as a Gold Season, and the daytime-only package is the Silver Season. For 2010 Llangollen offers a PLATINUM Season, covering everything from Tuesday to Sunday inclusive. This represents a fantastic saving of around 25% on the full prices, with a guarantee of the same seat throughout. If you can, do take this opportunity of making it a holiday week and join us for the whole span of the festival. For those coming on the Monday evening and staying through Tuesday; there is a wonderful Vocal Solo Competition (the 15 to 20 age-range) in the Town Hall on the Tuesday afternoon before the Parade of Nations at 4.30pm (weather permitting) through the streets of Llangollen including Commonwealth Games Team Wales athletes as well as all the competitor performers from all over the world. Ticket Office: 01978 862001 |
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| Mersey Primary School cites Festival as a major factor in Ofsted report success. St Matthews Primary School in Liverpool has just gained Overall Effectiveness Outstanding in its Ofsted report and the school was especially praised for its creative involvement in community cohesion events and cultural development. The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is proud to have been cited directly in the Inspectors letter as a major contributory factor in the schools achievements. The International Eisteddfod has greatly helped our pupils to develop their understanding of people from other cultures, through their music and dance says St Matthews Headteacher, Veronica McDonnell, This was acknowledged in our recent Ofsted Inspection when we were awarded Outstanding for overall effectiveness. Our strong Community Cohesion work was also rated outstanding with the International Eisteddfod contributing to our international links. We have been coming to Llangollen for the past four years, says Donna Jones, Senior Teacher and Music Coordinator at St Matthews Primary School whose been involved along with Mrs Letitia Wilkins, Deputy Headteacher. We have attended once on Childrens Day, once on Song and Dance Day- where we saw HRH Prince Charles!- and we have also competed in the Junior Childrens Choirs competition and taken part in the inclusive All the World, One Smile project in 2009. As a direct result of their visits to the Llangollen Festival St Matthews Primary School has made strong cultural connections with children and schools from other countries throughout the world and, this year, the school hopes to forge specific links with both India and Hong Kong. Mrs McDonnell explains Our pupils have benefited socially, emotionally and spiritually through their participation in this wonderful annual event. They have had the opportunity to meet and forge on-going links with children from India and China. What a wonderful way of helping children to experience first hand the cultural diversity and unity of people from all corners of the world. Veronica McDonnell continues to explain Our own pupils come from a wide variety of different backgrounds, and abilities and so for us, having a wonderful event like Llangollen on our doorstep is so important. We have a wealth of talent, enthusiasm and spirituality, and the Eisteddfod helps us to develop this. The children of St Matthews Primary School have fond memories of their previous visits to Llangollen Festival: I love going to Eisteddfod. You see people from all over the world wearing such beautiful colourful costumes. Ying Yu Fang aged 10. I enjoyed watching the Chechnyan dancers. They were so fit and strong. Even the tiniest children could kick their legs so high. They made us feel so excited. Paige Lancaster aged 10. Our school choir felt so proud when we sang on the main stage at the Eisteddfod. We competed against children who came from as far as China. It was great. Katie Jones aged 10. I couldnt believe I saw Prince Charles at the International Eisteddfod. The golden Harp was shining so brightly on the stage. We waved at Prince Charles and he waved back at us. Jack Bradley. Llangollen Festivals Chief Executive Mervyn Cousins is delighted that the event is having such a positive effect in schools and in the community as a whole. It is great to hear once again that the international reach of Llangollen has such a positive effect on young people, he says. We naturally believe that what we can offer to schools and families is special and it is wonderful to know that this experience has a legacy beyond their actual attendance at the festival. I am also delighted personally, as before coming to work in Llangollen I worked in Liverpool and I know what brilliant work is done in schools there. The City of Liverpool is often cited as being the capital city of North Wales and the connections between the Mersey and the Dee appear to be as strong as ever in 2010 because, this year, in addition to welcoming a choir from St Matthews Primary School, Liverpool will also be represented in this years Eisteddfod by the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir. Some tickets are still available for this years Childrens Day (Primary Schools, Tuesday 6 July), and for Youth Day (Secondary schools and colleges) and, because of the continuing high demand for these tickets, Llangollen is also offering school packages, including workshops from performers from all over the world, on the other days of the festival week. Culturally and geographically we are not far away from Liverpool, says Mervyn Cousins, and, of course, the continuing and enduring philosophy of Llangollen is that the rest of the world is also much closer to us than we think!
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Hi All
Thanks for your warm welcome from over the water. Tis warm & sunny in Cardiff today and everything's growing like mad in the garden here. Cardiff is still recovering from Cardiff City Football Team losing their Play-Off Match to get into the top championship league - but our Rugby Team (The Cardiff Blues) won their first European Trophy in France the next day! No I'm not sports mad in the least, just patriotic....
Am beavering away on my website Discover Cardiff and taking time out for a cuppa tea and a look at AmeriCymru. Am also looking for ways to trace an American student who lived with us for 9 months back in 1985ish - her name was Amy White and I last heard from her when she was living in Colorado in 2002 and then lost touch as we moved & she moved. Any ideas anyone? You never know, she may be a member?
Anyhow, good to be in touch again with some new American friends. Bye for now Wendy
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| ANDY: Having been in the music business professionally for thirty years, twenty years in the US, I realized hardly anyone knows what or where or who is in wales. Being a Welshman in the US, I wanted to introduce our talents to the world. CERI: Do you have any immediate plans for signings, tours, etc? ANDY: Yes, absolutely. Between June 2nd and 17th, I'll be in the UK, having industry meetings with music professionals and through my connections with AmeriCymru, I realized I could access musical information and contacts that were previously unavailable to me. I have bands singed in the US and bands coming on tour to the UK and Europe this year, and I thought by coming home to Wales for a few days it would be a good opportunity to view some of the recommended talent in the area. There's so much opportunity in the US for touring and promoting that I want to represent my home country, Wales, sign the best few bands in certain genre categories of music with a view to recording contracts and bringing them to the US to tour for next year. CERI: I understand that you're holding an audition in Cardiff in June? Care to tell us where and when that will be? ANDY: Yep. There'll be an audition on the 12th of June at the MusicBox in Penarth Rd ,Cardiff between 10 and 6. CERI: What kind of bands are you looking for? ANDY: I really don't care about genre of music, age or race. All I care about is quality. CERI: How should bands and musicians get an audition? ANDY: Join Americymru and Welsh Steel , put up some audio files, performance videos, anything that will show me what you do and although it's last minute, we can contact you. We'll contact the bands for this particular audition, even though it's last minute, don't think we're going to overlook you, there might still be an opportunity to meet and greet, you can give me material for the next set of auditions and we can keep in contact on the networks. CERI: What's your background in the music industry? ANDY : I started really young, my first show on stage was with Ronny Corbett and Clodagh Rogers at age five. My local church choral group were asked to sing and my mother claims I snatched the microphone from Ronnie Corbett's hand and decided to sing a locally popular hit, Jimmy Osmond's "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool," to the delight and amazement of the audience, the pit orchestra and especially Ronny Corbett! Since then, my career's been downhill! No, seriously, music school, classically-trained trumpet player and singer, followed by twenty years of prostitution in the pop business left me in Brazil, Jamaica, subsequently Miami, Florida playing pop music to the masses and being dropped by various labels due to the general public downloading free music, which took all the money out of record labels, subsequently led to the fall of the establishment, so I retired from music. A few years ago I realized a giant hole in my soul by not being involved in the music industry and decided to represent my fellow country men and musicians by managing promoting and touring on their behalf with my experience as the foundation on which to help them succeed. for twelve years straight playing almost 300 shows a year, managing, booking, preforming, scheduling, negotiating contracts and roadying my band and others, I've done it all. CERI: What do you listen to, who do you like? ANDY: Anything, really, as long as it's good. CERI: What's the music scene in Portland like? ANDY: Portland is small city of a bit over 500,000, of which all are musicians or it seems like that! There are over 150 independent venues that play music every night, so it's music, music, music, of all kinds, all the time. People here like experimentation, they like fusion, they're willing to try anything and they're pretty supportive, it's very creative. After retiring professionally from performing in 1999, I moved to Portland because I found it to be one of the most exciting artistic communities I'd ever visited and now I'm set, immersed in talent and opportunities with local artists who have little further guidance to go beyond their semi-local, national scene. I feel very privileged to be able to represent quality artists in this area and will endeavour to help them in any way possible, via recording or promotion or touring, so they can achieve their creative goals. CERI: Care to tell us a bit about where you're from? ANDY: I was born in Blaina, both pairs of my grandparents lived in Bryn Mawr and I spent a lot of time there as a child. I moved to Pontypool as a youngster to go to school. My father worked in Panteg steel works, then he went to Cardiff College to study PE and Special Education, which then dragged me around the country for ten years whilst he opened the (then) new emerging special school system. During this period, I was stuydying music and arts heavily and was privileged to grow up in areas where music was exploding in the UK in the '80s. My grandmother still lives in Bryn Mawr. Portland is the closest town I've ever seen that reminds me of home: the weather, everything's green and lush, it's a really creative place and it's that bit anti-establishment, "People's Republic of Portland," and all. CERI: Do you miss home? Hiraeth and all that? ANDY: Of course I miss home. (ED: At this point in our interview, Andy broke down crying, crushing a leek and an unopened can of Brains SA to his chest and singing 'Green, Green Grass...'  Heads of the Valley is always in my heart. CERI: Any final message to our readers and the members of Welsh Steel and AmeriCymru? ANDY: Can't wait to meet some of you! Probably won't get to meet you all this this time but never give up, keep the faith and Cymru Am Byth!
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Please consider taking a minute to vote for AmeriCymru member Mike Heap and The Legendary Clampetts at this url:- http://www.battleofthebands.com/theclampetts
Read the interview with Mike here:- http://americymru.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mike-heap-the-legendary
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