Folklife Quarterly FQ 40: Jan 2014 Folklife Quarterly, web version | Page 9
v Bywyd Gwerin yn Chwarterol 40
Clubs & Venues
Ion. 2014 t7 v
Cymru / Wales
By
Cymru/Wales
Mick Tems
Editor, Folkwales Online Magazine, www.folkwales.org.uk/Magazine
Left: Nominated: Catrin and Seckou
Photo: © Mick Tems
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Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and Senegalese kora player
Seckou Keita have been nominated for two BBC Radio 2 Folk
Awards: Best Duo and Best Traditional Track for ‘Les Bras de
Mer’, taken from their debut album Clychau Dibon, which was
released on October 14 on the Astar Artes / Mwldan Label. The
Folk Awards winners will be announced at the Royal Albert Hall,
London on February 19, 2014.
Mark Radcliffe made the nominations announcement on BBC
Radio 2’s The Folk Show just before the duo played to a sellout crowd at Lakeside Arts Centre, in Seckou’s home town of
Nottingham. Catrin comes from the village of Pentyrch, near Cardiff.
It quickly follows two other major music industry nominations
- the album was recently selected as one of Songlines Magazine’s
Top Ten Albums of 2013, chosen by editors Simon Broughton and
Jo Frost and drawn from all the new albums reviewed in the past
year - the first time an album featuring a Welsh artist has been
included in this award. Clychau Dibon is also one of ten albums
nominated for the fRoots Critics Poll Album of the Year 2013, the
winner of which was due to be announced in December.
2013 has been a terrific year for Catrin and Seckou, particularly
since their showcase in October at the global music conference,
WOMEX 2013 in Cardiff, impressed a crowd of international
music industry delegates. Catrin and Seckou embarked on an
18-date UK tour, and dates for their next May 2014 tour are due
in the coming weeks. The pair have also been invited to play at
the 35th anniversary celebrations of fRoots Magazine in March
2014 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Southbank, London.
The project and album is a co-production between Cardiganbased Theatr Mwldan and Astar Artes. Clychau Dibon is produced
by John Hollis. ‘We are absolutely delighted to have rece