I first met Owen Shiers back in 2011 down in Devon where we were both on the same intake of The Journey, the flagship course run by Mac MacCartney and his team at Embercombe.
Since that time Owen has moved back to his native Wales and in 2019 he put out his first album, a musical project with a difference. ‘Dilyn Afon’ (or ‘Following A River’) is the result of three years research and work, collecting arranging and recording folk songs from Ceredigion. This a project which aims to put West Wales and its fragile traditions firmly back on the musical map.
It's an evocative, timeless work and I highly encourage everyone to seek it out.
The word ‘cynefin’ itself is swaddled in layers of meaning – a Welsh noun with no direct equivalent in English, its origins lie in a farming term used to describe the habitual tracks and trails worn by animals in hillsides. The word has since morphed and deepened to conjure a very personal sense of place, belonging and familiarity.
I spoke to Owen about his journey to making the record, what it means to be cultural conservationist, and how urgent it is that we stop standing by while our heritage slips slowly into extinction.
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Owen Shiers