High energy award-winning band from Wales perform upbeat folk concert at the Connaught Studio
Calan, the international award-winning band from Wales, are back on the road with their infectious rhythms and high energy routines to celebrate 10 years since the release of their first album with a brand new compilation recording called Deg or 10. The album also includes some new tracks specially recorded for the CD. They come with accordion, harp, guitar, fiddles and Welsh bagpipes along with a virtuoso performance from a champion step dancer. Calan will be bringing their upbeat live performance to the Connaught Studio on Saturday 15th September, 8pm.
The band began by busking in the streets of Cardiff raising money to pay for university fees. By 2015 they were performing alongside Bryn Terfel and Sting at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of Bryn Terfel’s 50th birthday party.
Calan bring together the remarkable talents of five young musicians giving a fresh and vibrant sound to traditional Welsh music. With a contemporary and lively approach they breathe new life into the old traditions through their sparkling melodies, foot tapping tunes and spirited and energetic performances of Welsh step dancing.
They blast their way through some of the old favourite reels, jigs and hornpipes with fast paced and uplifting arrangements before melting into some of their more beautiful and haunting songs.
Following the release of their debut album, ‘Bling’ in 2008, which attracted four star responses from critics, the five-piece have been playing to big audiences and rave reviews at concerts and festivals around Britain and Europe, including the coveted Cambridge Festival; Celtic Connections, Glasgow; Shrewsbury Folk Festival; Moseley Folk Festival; Derby Folk Festival; Bromyard Folk Festival, Whitby Folk Festival a concert tour of Italy, Austria and Belgium along with a number of performances at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient, Brittany, where they’ve received the award for the best group.
The band, who’ve raised some eyebrows with a deliberate policy of eye-catching clothes and presentation, despite the ancient roots of their music, see themselves as a new generation of ambassadors, striving to take their new sound to new audiences, while raising the profile of Welsh traditional music on an international level.
With their unique instrumental blend of fiddles, whistles, guitar and bagpipes and a traditional reed instrument from Wales called a pibgorn made from a wooden pipe and the horns of a bull, they have introduced a new generation of music fans to Welsh traditional music – in Wales and beyond.
Tickets for Calan at the Connaught Studio, Worthing are priced at £13.50 and are available from the Worthing Theatres box office on 01903 206 206 and online at worthingtheatres.co.uk.