"In your hands, the birth of a new day... " (Limahl)

24 October 2011

Ar Daith / On Tour: 1997


1997- GIGS

09/01/97 Capel y Gerlan, Y Borth

14/02/97 Gwesty Roxburghe, Caeredin

31/03/97 Gwesty Gliffaes, Powys

12/07/97 Gŵyl Werin y Cnapan, Ffostrasol (Ysbryd Chouchen)

15/07/97 Capel y Morfa, Aberystwyth

19/07/97 Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau (Ysbryd Chouchen)

01/08/97 Castell Ffonmon, Bro Morgannwg

05/08/97 Wynnstay Arms, Machynlleth

08/08/97 Maes B, Yr Eisteddfod, Y Bala (Ysbryd Chouchen)

09/08/97 Eglwys St. William of York, Sheffield

10/08/97 Celtica, Machynlleth

11/08/97 SESIWN “Y GAREJ” (Ysbryd Chouchen)

12/08/97 Wynnstay Arms, Machynlleth

19/08/97 Wynnstay Arms, Machynlleth

21-23/08/97 Y Gŵyl Fictorianaidd, Llandrindod

26/08/97 Wynnstay Arms, Machynlleth

28/08/97 Y Tabernacl, Machynlleth

09/09/97 Wynnstay Arms, Machynlleth

10/09/97 Wynnstay Arms, Machynlleth

18/09/97 Wynnstay Arms, Machynlleth

27/09/97 Y Neuadd Fawr, Aberystywyth (Ysbryd Chouchen)

16-19/10/97 Lowender Perran, Perranporth (Dawnswyr Pen-y-Fai)

15/11/97 Y Castell, Caerdydd

02/12/97 Y Castell, Cil-y-Coed

06/12/97 Gŵyl Ffidlan, Y Bala

08/12/97 Sŵn y Don, Aberystwyth

25/12/97 Gwesty’r Marine, Aberystwyth

Rhywbryd ar ddechrau 1997, tra'n myfyriwr israddedig ym Mhrifysgol Strathclyde, cymerais penderfyniad fy mod i am ddilyn cwrs MPhil (wedyn PhD) yng Nghaerdydd, ar sail rhan-amser. Doedd dim cynllun o gwbl gennyf beth i'w wneud neu sut i'w hariannu - jyst troi lan i Gaerdydd ym mis Medi 1997 gyda thelyn a dau fag. Yn lwcus, tra 'roeddwn mewn tafarn yn Eisteddfod Y Bala, cwrddais hen gyfaill, Steffan Wiliam, a threfnu mynd i fyw gyda fe yn ardal Adamsdown y ddinas. Am ryw rheswm na fedra'i ddirnad heddiw, wnes i ddim ceisio chwilio am swydd "iawn" i ariannu fy PhD, ond yn hytrach penderfynu mynd o amgylch trefi de Cymru yn bysgio gyda'r delyn. Yn ystod yr haf, cwrddais a chriw o fyfyrwyr cerddorol o gwmpas goelcerth yng Ngwyl Werin y Cnapan. Roeddwn i yno gyda fy nhelyn, am fod gen i gweithdy i'w gynnal ar rhan y Cymdeithas Offerynnau Traddodiadol. Rhywsut, penderfynodd y criw ifanc yma fy mod i "on board" ac yn rhan o grwp "Ysbryd Chouchen", ac fe ddechreuodd siwrnau newydd yn fy hanes gyda'r delyn.

At some point at the beginning of 1997, as an undergrad student at Strathclyde, I decided that I wanted to follow an Mphil (and subsequently a PhD) in Cardiff, on a part-time basis. I had no plan what this entailed, or how I would fund it - I just turned up in Cardiff in September 1997 with two bags and my harp. Luckily, at the Eisteddfod in Bala, I had (literally!) bumped into an old friend, Steffan Wiliam, who offered me some digs at his house in the Adamsdown area of Cardiff. For some reason which I still can't fathom, I declined to find a "proper" job to fund my PhD, opting instead to travel around the towns of south Wales, busking with my harp. During the summer, I had also met a crew of musical students around the bonfire at the Cnapan Folk Festival in Ceredigion. I was there with my harp, having workshop duties to do on behalf of the Traditional Instruments' Society. Somehow, this young, hip crew decided that I was now "on board" as a member of Ysbryd Chouchen, and another new chapter started.