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...the winner of our 'Onward And Upwards' giveaway competition is Les H of Monmouth, South Wales, UK who will be receiving his CD shortly. If you didn't win this time round why not try our new competitions? Win a signed copy of Harrison Solow's superb 'Felicity And Barbara Pym'....go HERE Win a copy of 'Always The Love of Someone' by Huw Lawrence go.... HERE Both books are reviewed on the competition pages. Pob Lwc/Best of Luck |
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In the course of explaining what does happen in Barbara Pym's novels her tutor, Mallory Cooper illuminates an entire era of British social history and references a wealth of literary sources and resources which cumulatively bring the author , her world and her novels vividly into focus. If Barbara Pym was not formerly on my 'to read' list then she is now. All in all this is a book for anyone who cares about literature and wants to advance their knowledge of it. It provides , perhaps surprisingly for a work which is so very scholarly in tone and content, a thoroughly engaging and engrossing reading experience. An unreservedly recommended title from a masterful writer. Buy 'Felicity And Barbara Pym' HERE Here at Americymru we like to give things away! This month we are offering an autographed copy of ''Felicity And Barbara Pym' . All you have to do is answer the three following questions and email your answers to :- The deadline for entries is August 1st 2010 and the lucky winner will be announced on the site on July 2nd. Please remember that we will only accept one entry per email address and duplicate submissions will be disqualified. So........fire up the Wikipedia and answer these questions to win the prize:- 1. In which English town was Barbara Pym born? 2. In which international Institute in London did Pym work for several years? 3. Barbara Pym's first novel in 1950 was titled 'Some Tame ......." ( Fill in the blank )? Pob lwc/Best of luck  Comment on Harrison's AmeriCymru page HERE. |
| 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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| 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 |
| 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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| 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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MIKE HEAP is bassist and songwriter for The Legendary Clampetts from Springfield, Illinois. Mike talked to Ceri Shaw for Welsh Steel and AmeriCymru |
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CERI: How long have The Clampetts been playing together?  MIKE: The band's been together about 3 years. We originated from a project that Matt (Erley - drums) and I were involved in called 'Banzai Kitty'. The Legendary Clampetts was more or less the moniker that Matt and I chose as an inside joke after our original guitarists left to start another project, and it just sort of stuck. We've actually been recording and performing as The LC's for about 16 months now.
CERI: How would you describe your sound? MIKE: Our sound is really a 'mash-up' I suppose. I know there's punk, funk, progressive metal and a lot of old school classic rock sounding type stuff in there. It actually depends on what I'm trying to convey in the song. For example; 'Riot In The Hospital' has a straight up punk / rockabilly feel to it. The melody and progressions were written to capture and express the tongue in cheek outrage of the lyrics. All of our material is meant to 'stand alone' and tell a story or express an idea or opinion, so we don't really pay any attention to, or try to stick to any particular 'genre' or label. CERI: You are the main songsmith for The Legendary Clampetts. What inspires your lyric writing? MIKE: Lyrics, to me, are the most important part of songwritting. So, I take a lot of time with just that aspect of the song writting process. Everything I've ever written starts with expressing a story, an idea or an opinion. The subject matters are diverse, 'Cry Havoc' is an anti-war protest song, while 'Bird Thing' is a song about growing up and leaving home and how scary, exciting and sometimes sad that can be.
CERI: Who would you count amongst your musical influences? MIKE: Wow, musical influences. Okay, here we go....I do this in a couple of ways. As a bassist, my all time 2 greatest influences are John Entwistle and John Paul Jones without reservations. As a lyricist and composer, I really admire Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull. As far as bands go, Blue Oyster Cult, Queen, Thin Lizzy and Genesis top a really really long list. CERI: Any tours or live appearances in the near future? MIKE: We're currently in our home studio working on some new material at the moment, so other than the possibility of appearing on the Ernie Ball Stage at The Warped Tour stop in St. Louis, MO , we don't have any shows scheduled until late August in the midwest. CERI: Where can people go to hear/buy your music? MIKE: You can hear us at several different sites - We're on ReverbNation and of course Myspace . On both Myspace and ReverNation, you can stream all the songs there and the ReverbNation site has some special free downloads available to anyone that becomes a member of our fan base. I'd like to take this opportunity to announce that we'll be launching a new website this coming fall where among other things friends and fans will be able to 'rent' and 'recommend' (R&R) our material ( songs and videos). Long story, short answer - we believe the old methods of 'selling' music is dead, and we're approaching this is a new manner that befits the digital age.....stay tuned for more, is all I can say at the moment. You can also find us twitter at ww.twitter.com/clampettsspfld , on www.imradio.com/theclampetts and our youtube channel CERI: Care to tell us something about the Ernie Ball Battle of The Bands? MIKE: The Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands is an annual contest that the Ernie Ball company conducts in conjunction with the Vans Warped Tour. The concept is to give a platform for undiscovered bands to showcase their talent to a larger regional or national audience. The contest has launched the careers of several major artists over the last 10 years or so. We're currently in the running for one of 5 available slots during the tours stop in St. Louis, Missouri. At last glance, we occupied the # 2 position after having spent 20 days as the number one contender. Fans must create an account in order to vote, but don't let that stop you - you won't be inundated with junk emails from either the Ernie Ball or the Vans companies or any other sponsor or participant. What we've seen thus far, is that a lot of the bands involved have their fans go 'trolling' for return votes from other bands and fans in order to benefit their chosen band.....and it seems to work. We'd certainly appreciate all the help and support that we can get. We've been discussing offering logo t-shirts to any of our friends and fans that are helping us out, not only in this contest, but in any of our efforts. CERI: On your AmeriCymru profile you describe yourself as a first generation Welsh american. Care to tell us a little about your Weslsh background? MIKE: My dad was born in Swansea. He and his mother moved to New Bedford, Mass. when he was 7. My brothers and I were constantly exposed to our culture and heritage from my dad, but more so from our grandmother. She insisted on speaking to us in Welsh as much as possible. My dad was a history nut, and had an extensive library of Welsh history and social traditions, which he 'tutored' us boys on....he went so far as to insist that we watch the movie Zulu at least once a month....why? Well, as he put it, and I'm paraphrasing here - ' the most glorious victory in the british army belongs to a Welsh Regiment'. My Welsh heritage was and still is the most defining aspect of who and what I am....I even have the goch ddraig with the words Wales Forever tattooed on my left arm. CERI: Are there any Welsh or Celtic influences on your music? MIKE: I couldn't claim that my writting has any more Welsh or Celtic influence than anyone elses music I do, however, like to image myself as keeping alive the old bardic traditions of my ancestors in some remote fashion. CERI: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru and WelshSteel? MIKE: I'd just like to say to you Ceri, thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself and speak to the members of AC and WS and connect with them via these forums and websites. And, on behalf of The Legendary Clampetts, thank you for taking the time to give us a go, we hope you enjoy the music.
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