welsh folk artist owen shiers

..Cynefin?

‘Cynefin’ (pr.’kuh-neh-vin’), a word with no direct translation into English, is the musical brainchild of Welsh folk singer, researcher, grain grower and cultural historian Owen Shiers.

The project is a musical petition – a stake in the ground for the diverse and the disappearing in our age of homogenisation and mass amnesia. Grounded in years of research, collecting and absorbing the culture and traditions of his native Ceredigion, it aims to provide a window into the past in addition as bring present day issues into sharp focus.

A personal dispatch from the struggle to maintain a language, culture and way of life – cynefin is a uniqye musical project with a timely message.

Listen..

Watch the live video ‘Lliw’r Ceiroes’ (The Colour of Cherries) taken from Dilyn Afon.

This unusual melody was discovered in a large collection of manuscripts called ‘Melus Seiniau’ by the renowned song collector Ifor Ceri (also known as John Jenkins). Jenkins collected tunes and melodies from across Wales during the first half of the 19th century, including many from Ceredigion. Lliw’r Ceiroes is noted as originally being sung by Evan Thomas from Llanarth and it is recorded here for the first time.

The song follows the heartache of a young man who’s likely put his foot in it with his sweetheart and is now asking for penance. Lliw in Welsh can mean both ‘colour’ and ‘appearance’ and so Lliw’r Ceiroes or ‘Colour of Cherries’ in this case, is a nickname or term of endearment for his beloved who he is so desperately trying to win back..