O Groth y Ddaear

Perhaps better known for his work as frontman for the Welsh rock band Y Bandana or as part of psychedelic rock trio Plu with his two sisters, Gwilym Bowen Rhys has been travelling and performing traditional Welsh songs around Wales for the last few years. This followed his involvement with the 2013 project 10 Mewn Bws (Ten in a Bus), when folk development organisation Trac sent ten very different musicians around Wales in a bus to explore music archives. O Groth y Ddaear, literally meaning ‘From the Earth's Womb’, eschews any echoes of psychedelia, let alone raucous rock. There is rarely more than guitar, harp and fiddle accompanying traditional and new songs of love for the land, often dedicated to some of the colourful characters of Wales’ past.

An uncompromising tone is set by the distinctly Welsh sound of three-part harmony singing on opener ‘Cwch Dafydd ’Rabar’ (Dafydd Rabar's Boat), inspired by old stories of Rhys’ nearest town, Caernarfon, – most notably that of the legendary ferryman who gives the song its title. A thoroughly earthy-sounding album.