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Focus Wales
Focus Wales (stylised as FOCUS Wales) is an international multi-venue showcase music and arts festival held annually in Wrexham, Wales. It is Wales' biggest music industry event and was first held in 2010. The event showcases emerging Welsh musical talent, as well as a selection of international emerging acts, film screenings, and conference events. Description The festival is held every year, with over 250 performances from various international acts. The event's organisers also attend and host conferences and showcases internationally, including far-away places such as Canada, South Korea and Taiwan to promote the event and its artists. The event is Wales' biggest music industry event, and alongside performances, the event would host industry advice sessions, panels and keynote talks, with around 400 music industry professionals expected to have attended the 2022 event. HWB Cymraeg which provides Welsh language events at the festival was also present in 2022. In 2022 the ...
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Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county of Denbighshire, and later the county of Clwyd in 1974, it has been the principal settlement of Wrexham County Borough since 1996. Wrexham has historically been one of the primary settlements of Wales. At the 2011 Census, it had an urban population of 61,603 as part of the wider Wrexham built-up area which made it Wales's fourth largest urban conurbation and the largest in north Wales. The city comprises the local government communities of Acton, Caia Park, Offa and Rhosddu. Wrexham's built-up area extends further into villages like Bradley, Brymbo, Brynteg, Gwersyllt, New Broughton, Pentre Broughton and Rhostyllen. Wrexham was likely founded prior to the 11th century and developed in the Middle Ages as a regional centre for t ...
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Tim Burgess (musician)
Timothy Allan Burgess (born 30 May 1967) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record label owner, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band the Charlatans. Early life Burgess was born in Salford, and grew up in Moulton, near Northwich, Cheshire. Career The Charlatans Burgess was initially the lead singer in The Electric Crayons (named after the psychedelic compilation album ''The Electric Crayon Set'', released on the Bam-Caruso record label), who released one single, "Hip Shake Junkie". Burgess then joined the Charlatans, who were largely influenced by acid house, 1960s-era West Coast psychedelia and the Syd Barrett era of Pink Floyd. The Charlatans' debut single "Indian Rope" was successful, and the group subsequently signed to Situation Two, an offshoot of the Beggars Banquet label. In 1990 they released the single "The Only One I Know" on the imprint, which charted in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. The band have released thirteen s ...
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Gwenno Saunders
Gwenno Mererid Saunders (born 23 May 1981) is a Welsh musician, known by the stage name Gwenno. She has released three critically-acclaimed albums as a solo artist: Welsh Music Prize winner'' Y Dydd Olaf'' (2014); ''Le Kov'' (2018), her first album in Cornish; and '' Tresor'' (2022), which was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. She was also a singer in the indie pop group The Pipettes, whose debut '' We Are the Pipettes'' was described by Pitchfork as "a classic modern indie-pop album." Biography Saunders was born in Cardiff. She is the daughter of Cornish poet and linguist Tim Saunders and Lyn Mererid, who is an activist and member of the choir Côr Cochion Caerdydd and works as a translator. When she grew up, her father spoke Cornish; her mother spoke Welsh. From the age of five she attended the Seán Éireann-McMahon Academy of Irish Dance and was a cast member of Michael Flatley's productions of Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames by the age of 17, playing a lead role ...
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A Guy Called Gerald
Gerald Rydel Simpson (born 16 February 1967), better known as A Guy Called Gerald, is a British record producer and musician. He was an early member of the electronic group 808 State, contributing to their debut LP '' Newbuild'' (1988) and hit single " Pacific State" (1989). He also achieved solo success with his 1988 hit single " Voodoo Ray", which became a touchstone of Manchester's acid house scene and reached No. 12 in the UK charts. He embraced breakbeat production in the 1990s, with his 1995 album '' Black Secret Technology'' becoming a "much-touted candidate for 'best jungle album ever.'" He also ran the London-based independent record label Juice Box Records from 1991 to 1998. Early life and influences Simpson was influenced by his Jamaican roots; his father's blue beat, ska and Trojan reggae record collection, his mother's Pentecostal church sessions and the Jamaican sound system parties in Manchester's Moss Side area where he grew up. He absorbed jazz fusion and ele ...
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The Joy Formidable
The Joy Formidable is a Welsh people, Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 2007 in Mold, Flintshire, and currently based in London, England. The band consists of Rhiannon "Ritzy" Bryan (lead vocals, guitar), Rhydian Dafydd (bass guitar, bass, vocals) and Matthew James Thomas (drums, percussion). History 2007–2009: Beginnings and ''A Balloon Called Moaning'' Childhood friends and then couple Ritzy Bryan and bassist Rhydian Dafydd originally played together as part of Manchester band Tricky Nixon, which later reformed into Sidecar Kisses. After Sidecar Kisses split up in 2007, they regrouped, returning to their Welsh home town of Mold, Flintshire, Mold, and formed the Joy Formidable with Justin Stahley on drums. In July 2008, they released their first official single, "Austere (song), Austere". It was followed by a Christmas single, "My Beerdrunk Soul Is Sadder than a Hundred Dead Christmas Trees", issued as a 2008 digital download, and the "Cradle (The Joy Formidable song), ...
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Catrin Finch
Catrin Ana Finch is a Welsh harpist, arranger and composer. She was the Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2000 to 2004 and is visiting professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Finch has given recitals at venues throughout the world. Early life Catrin Finch was born in Llanon, Ceredigion, and began learning the harp at the age of six. Her mother is German and her father English, and she is a fluent Welsh speaker. By the age of nine, she had passed her grade VIII harp examination. She was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain at the age of ten, becoming the youngest of its members to play at The Proms. She studied harp with Elinor Bennett, who would become her mother-in-law, before attending the Purcell School, a specialist music school for children in Hertfordshire. She continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London where she studied harp with Skaila Kanga. During the 1990s, Fin ...
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The Lovely Eggs
The Lovely Eggs are a two-piece lo-fi psychedelic punk rock band from Lancaster, England. They consist of married couple Holly Ross and David Blackwell. Ross was formerly the lead singer and guitarist in the all-female band Angelica. Career The band formed in 2006, playing their first ever gig in New York City and then returning to the UK to play nationwide shows. They gained recognition from radio coverage on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6, from DJs such as Marc Riley, Huw Stephens and Steve Lamacq. In May 2008, they were invited into the BBC Radio 6 studio to do a live session for Marc Riley's Brain Surgery show. In August of the same year, they were again invited back to the BBC to do a session for Huw Stephens, this time for BBC Radio 1. In October 2008, their first EP entitled '' Have You Ever Heard The Lovely Eggs?'' was released through Cherryade Records, which was again well received with positive reviews and more airplay. In the same month, the lead track from their ...
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Stella Donnelly
Stella Donnelly (born 10 April 1992) is a Welsh-Australian indie rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. After the success of her debut EP ''Thrush Metal'' in 2017, she signed with Secretly Canadian in 2018. She released her debut studio album ''Beware of the Dogs'' to critical acclaim in March 2019, peaking at number 15 on the ARIA Album Charts and winning Independent Album of the Year at the AIR Awards. Her second album, ''Flood'', was released in August 2022, debuting at number 29 on the ARIA Charts. Early life Born in Western Australia to a Welsh mother, she spent some childhood years in Morriston before moving to Perth with her family. Donnelly first started singing when she joined a rock band in high school (Irene McCormack Catholic College) that performed Green Day covers. After high school, Donnelly studied contemporary and jazz music at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Donnelly was a part of the bands Boat Show and Bell Rapids before leaving th ...
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Neck Deep
Neck Deep are a Welsh pop punk band from Wrexham, Wales formed in 2012. Founded after vocalist Ben Barlow met former lead guitarist Lloyd Roberts, the pair posted a song ("What Did You Expect?") online under the name Neck Deep. The song soon gained attention online, resulting in the addition of rhythm guitarist Matt West, drummer Dani Washington/Abasi, and bassist Fil Thorpe-Evans. They released a pair of EPs, ''Rain in July'' (2012) and ''A History of Bad Decisions'' (2013), both recorded by Barlow's older brother, before signing with Hopeless in August 2013. Following the release of their debut album ''Wishful Thinking'' in January 2014, the band became a full-time project, with the band members leaving their jobs and/or dropping out of university courses. Shortly after the release of their second album '' Life's Not out to Get You'' in August 2015, Roberts left the band due to allegations of sexual misconduct (which he was subsequently found to have no case to answer), and S ...
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Gaz Coombes
Gaz Coombes (born 8 March 1976) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the English alternative rock band Supergrass. He first entered the music scene aged 14 as the lead singer of the band The Jennifers which featured Supergrass bandmate Danny Goffey. 1990–1993: The Jennifers Coombes first entered the music world at age 14 as the lead singer of the band The Jennifers. They recorded their demo at Stargoat, Banbury, released April 1991 a month after Gaz turned 15. The band undertook a nationwide tour before Coombes was fifteen. When they signed for their first recording contract with Nude Records, Coombes was under 18 at the time and so had to have his mother sign the contract for him. "There were a couple of ridiculous, punky, joke songs – "Harvey The Accountant" and "The Girl with the Removable Face". That one went: "The girl with the removable face/She didn't have much of a life/All the boys used to pull it o ...
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Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church (born Charlotte Maria Reed, 21 February 1986) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress, television presenter and political activist from Cardiff. Church rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States. In 2010, she was reported to be worth as much as £11M (though one 2003 report quoted her worth at £25M). She hosted a Channel 4 chat show titled ''The Charlotte Church Show''. Church released her first album in five years, titled ''Back to Scratch'', on 17 October 2010. Church is a soprano. In recent years, Church has become engaged in political activism which has included support for the Labour party across the UK, and Plaid Cymru in Senedd elections in Wales. Church is also a supporter of Welsh independence. Background and music career Early life Church was born Charlotte Maria Reed in Llandaff, a distr ...
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Euros Childs
Euros Childs (; Welsh: ; born 16 April 1975) is a Welsh musician and songwriter, perhaps best known as the frontman for the band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and—as of January 2019—the keyboardist for Teenage Fanclub. His sister, violinist Megan Childs, was also a member of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, and their father Lynn played on some Gorky's recordings, most notably on ''Barafundle''. Childs was born in Freshwater East, Pembrokeshire, and was educated at the Welsh-medium school Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Myrddin in Carmarthenshire. Career Childs was a founder of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and stayed with the band throughout its lifetime, writing or co-writing most songs, handling most lead vocals, and playing keyboards, among other instruments. His first solo music appeared in 2005, and his first single, "Donkey Island", was released on Wichita Recordings in November of that year. His band for the subsequent UK tour included Gorky's drummer Peter Richardson and fellow Welsh musician Alun ...
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