HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY TRUST, Learning from genocide – for a better future

Seimon Pugh Jones video interviews Harold Gouvier Richards of Summerhill in Pembrokeshire. He talks about his father, David George Richards and his role in The Great War as a Royal Engineer in the tunnelling company.This Memorial Day was held in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire on 27th January 2020. Seimon Pugh Jones attended with his camera. The whole event was filmed on the one camera and all sound came from the camera in built microphone. Apologies for the lack of quality in sound and the only one point of view angle.

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2020 marked 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Stand Together.

Don’t be content in your life just to do no wrong,
be prepared every day to try and do some good.

- Sir Nicholas Winton,
 who rescued 669 children from Nazi-occupied Europe

DAVID GEORGE RICHARDS

Seimon Pugh Jones video interviews Harold Gouvier Richards of Summerhill in Pembrokeshire. He talks about his father, David George Richards and his role in The Great War as a Royal Engineer in the tunnelling company.

AUNTY MAGS PART 8

Aunty Mags re-appears for her last trip down memory lane, for now, with her reminiscences of family life in Carmarthen.

Ramblings and tales of Priory Street and Carmarthen in general. It’s the last installment for now but she is screaming at me to come up to film more. She has so much more to tell and it would be a crime not to archive her memories..

LOST HOLLOW – OH HEART

Tommy Harden of Lost Hollow shares, "Our 12 year old son, Rowan, found a heart shaped rock on the beach while we were filming. We put it in the anchor hole of the ship because it was too heavy to lug around. As we were wrapping up filming, I looked at the rock and the hole and showed it to our videographer Seimon. I said, 'Look! O Heart' as the anchor hole was literally the "O" and the rock the heart. He got his camera back out and said in his thick Welsh accent, "Now that's art!" It's the opening shot of a truly sensational video.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 28, 2020) -- The 2018 Indie Music Channel’s Americana Artist of the Year and Emerging Band of the Year, Lost Hollow, featuring vocalists Tommy and Lorrie Harden, announces the premiere of its breathtaking new video for “Oh Heart” off its latest album, Looking for Happy . The video can be seen HERE and the album is available on iTunes/Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify.

The stunning video for “Oh Heart” was shot by photographer/videographer Seimon Pugh-Jones, a Welsh historian, at the childhood home of poet and writer Dylan Thomas, in Swansea, Wales, and at nearby Ferryside Beach. The sweeping landscapes and dramatic skies provide an amazing backdrop, both physically and metaphorically, for this mesmerizing love song, written by Tommy Harden, Lorrie Harden, Kellys Collins, and Jeff Smith.

With achingly beautiful harmonies accompanied by acoustic guitar, the first line of the second verse sums up the song’s powerful message from the protagonist to her broken heart:

“What I could do if tears would turn to glue; I’d fix you up and we could love like new,” anchored by the final line of the chorus, “If you just keep beating, I’ll keep breathing.”

Lorrie said, "For us it was like being in heaven, one of those days where you don't want it to end. Everywhere you rested your eyes, it was just sheer beauty. We're so grateful to our Welsh friends who put so much into this video."

Recorded in Tommy's Dungeon in Nashville, Looking for Happy is a 12-track ode to the pursuit of happiness as told from the perspective of the Hardens. The powerful songwriting duo explores themes ranging from the ups and downs of companionship to the sorrow of heartbreak and the dizzy excitement of living in the moment. Lost Hollow's succinct, candid songwriting is delivered beautifully, with soulful harmonies and masterful instrumental arrangements.

The first single from Looking for Happy , “Shine On,” and its accompanying video HERE have deeply affected thousands by telling the gripping story of Sancy Shaw, an adored wife and mother of four, tragically taken too soon by a drunk driver.

Lost Hollow has been described as an emotional powerhouse with two amazing voices weaving intricate and compelling songs. As songwriters, the Hardens had two cuts on Reba McEntire’s double platinum–selling album Duets . They were inducted into the IMC Hall of Fame in 2019. For more information, visit losthollowband.com

TIA MCGRAFF AND TOMMY PARHAM IN CONVERSATION WITH BB SKONE

Tia McGraff, Americana artist of the year 2019 (IMEA Awards)

Hailing from south of Toronto, Ontario Canada, Tia McGraff is an internationally-renowned, award-winning Americana singer-songwriter and gifted author with Scottish and Transylvanian roots. Tia’s performances, her angelic voice and well-crafted song writing have been described as ‘soul-stirring, thought provoking and providing promises of hope’ in a world full of chaos, broken dreams and uncertainty.

With seven international CD releases, various film/tv placements, and numerous nominations and awards including Americana CD of the Year first round nomination for 2018/2016 Grammy Awards , 2019 multi-nominee for Kingdom Image Awards , and Posi Award finalist, as well multiple Best Of lists, Tia and Tommy have earned a respect in the music industry and a global fan base. The duo have a gift for ‘getting to the heart of the matter’ and writing relatable songs about life, love and this crazy world we live in.

The 2018 release of “Stubborn In My Blood” continues to place well on RMR, Euro, Indie and Folk radio charts globally, earned Best Of 2018 ranking and has been featured on tastemaker and notable radio and TV shows such as Bob Harris Country on BBC Radio 2, CMT Canada and Blue Plate Special.

“Tia McGraff and Tommy Parham continue proving they are one of the best creative duos working today with the release of Stubborn in My Blood and the album’s eleven songs will be invaluable additions to their live act. It’s a deep feeling and thoughtful album full of the heart and tears defining our lives.”

Tia and Tommy, have many friends in Wales and have toured the UK many times.

She has played at the Sessiwn Fawr and headlined at Llangollen Eisteddfod with Joan Baez and Jose Carreres.

Listen to their music and in conversation with Pembrokeshire’s own B.B. Skone. Mother Bear captured their performance in an Americana Festival at the now defunct Tin Shed in Laugharne.

The angelic voice mixed with exquisite song writing gives Tia a powerful presence on stage. https://www.tiamcgraff.com/home

VOICES FROM WALES – FORTY-FOUR OF FIFTY-TWO , Christian Pattemore – Drive

January 31st was the day that Alan McGhee’s label, Creation23 released the single, Drive by Christian Pattemore. McGhee has managed or championed acts such as Oasis, Primal Scream, The Jesus and the Mary Chain and The Libertines.

Christian Pattemore commented on social media " I’m still buzzing from all the positive responses I've had so far for "Drive". Lots of people commented on the video .

"Filming took place literally one-year ago in Sub-zero temperatures and snow on higher ground in Ferryside, Carmarthenshire .....but what an amazing sunset! Such a fantastic day.

"I'd like to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you once again to Seimon Pugh-Jones and Andy Edwards from Mother Bear productions in Carmarthen for their vision, cinematography, editing and the fact they made this happen."

VOICES FROM WALES – FORTY-THREE OF FIFTY-TWO , AUNTY MAGS PART 7

Aunty Mags re-appears for another trip down memory lane with her reminiscences of family life in Carmarthen.

Ramblings and tales of Priory Street and the Printers Arms: hairdressers, horse fairs, tall jockeys, Great War farewells on a Carmarthen railway station, berserk horses and sapper trenches in Gallipoli. It’s all here!

There’s one more instalment! But I have been phoned and asked when am I coming up next as she has got loads more stories to tell!

VOICES FROM WALES – FORTY-TWO OF FIFTY-TWO

We have been working on this video for the past six months off and on. It is part of an educational project on behalf of the Carmarthen Coracle Netsmen Association.

It was part funded by the Heritage Lottery. Alongside this on the People’s Collection of Wales is a vast archive of stories and tales surrounding the practicalities of coracle fishing and the myths and stories that have surrounded the fishing community of Carmarthen.

It has been put together as a heritage project for local schools.