Welsh bands are making an impact on the world
It may seem strange for a Dorset based writer to be writing an article on the rise of Welsh music and not just the music, but the ambition and infrastructure to boot, but it’s that lack of Welsh connection. Give or take a middle name, a number of friends and the odd holiday and/or trip to the Mach Loop, Wales, had not been a big feature on my cultural landscape, something that had already been changing, but has certainly accelerated post pandemic.
It’s not that Fatea hasn’t featured Welsh acts, both singing in English and Welsh over the years, they have always been there, in the review columns, on our radio shows, I apologise once again for many of the pronunciation, and on the Fatea Showcase Session downloads, one of Fatea’s core values is that it’s merit lead so naturally we’ve featured Welsh acts. The main difference is that we would have probably called out that the artist involve was Welsh, these days it’s no longer a rare event that needs to be called out as there is a confidence in getting the music out there.
Similar to Iceland, Wales is beginning to box very much above it’s weight and really take it’s music to the world and as importantly, bring the world’s music to Wales. There is nothing like a two way dialogue to improve opportunity and adventure.
This year sees the biggest ever Welsh contingent head off to global entertainment forum SXSW with a determination to build on the success of last year’s event, other showcases abroad and within Britain are very much on the radar, the Welsh Showcase at Cambridge Folk Festival last year attracted great reviews whilst a collaborative perform in London on St David’s Day helped enable more spreading of the word.
I mentioned earlier that it’s a two way process, Wales has got it’s own Expo, Focus Wales 2024(click on poster for more details), running from the 9th to 11th of May in Wrexham, where many of Wales finest are going to be rubbing shoulders with acts from right across Europe, Australia and the Americas with Wales not only showcasing the bands it has to offer, but what Wales has to offer bands., the infrastructure that is putting Wales firmly on the music map.
You’ll notice that I’ve not actually named any bands/acts in this article, there’s a good reason for that, Wales has been making an unfettered rise in terms of the culture, this isn’t a folk and roots revival, based on the heritage industry, this is way broader than that and regardless of your preferred genres, now would be a great time to check in, see and hear what’s going on and be a part of what’s going on.
