Kicking off Pontio’s 2022 Cabaret season in style next Thursday, 3 February, exciting Welsh folk band Alaw perform at Pontio for the first time with their new album Drawn to the Light.

 

Working out of their West London store, Harjit Singh Shah, his wife Jasmeet and his brother Kanweljeet are at the beating heart of Indian music in Britain…so they may be a little surprised to find themselves at the cutting, creative edge of new Welsh folk music. It all started in the darkest days of Covid when, with windows and doors open to birdsong and distant traffic, three of Britain’s greatest folk musicians stood as far apart as they could in a remote country cottage and planned their new album, Drawn To The Light.

Violinist Oli Wilson-Dickson, guitarist Dylan Fowler, and keyboard player and vocalist Nia Lynn are, collectively, Alaw. If you’re a little unfamiliar with the individual names now, you won’t be soon. And you’ll certainly know the musicians who call upon their talents.

Oli, one of folk music’s most charismatic violinists, supports the likes of Jools Holland, José Carreras and Jamie Cullum. Dylan has played with Richard Thompson and Nigel Kennedy – and spent three years in a duo with Sting’s guitarist Dominic Miller. Nia has graced some of the great stages of the world – from Ronnie Scott’s to The Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall.

In the corner of the room for those early practice sessions was a little-used shruti box – a bellows-driven instrument used to provide a drone. Fascinated, Nia picked it up, and the three discovered that it transformed some of the textures and harmonies that normally informed the reimagined Welsh folk music they created.

Excited, and seeking an instrument with an even greater range, Nia decided that what she needed was a harmonium, a keyboard instrument with a hand-driven bellows at the back that’s central to much Indian music. A bit of research led her to Harjit, Jasmeet and Kanweljeet’s store, Jas Musicals, in west London’s Southall Broadway.

“It turned out to be a treasure trove of wonderful instruments,” says Nia. “The staff were amazing. I tried a few instruments and the harmonium opened up so many possibilities that I called Oli from the store and played him a few tunes down the phone…he was a thrilled as I was. I explained to the staff what we planned and they were fascinated. They deal with very significant Indian artists worldwide, but I think this may have been their first foray into Welsh folk.”

The harmonium now figures on Drawn To The Light and will make an appearance on a small-venue tour to fine-tune the live performances before Alaw explode on to the summer festival circuit.

 “We chose to call the album Drawn To The Light because it represents everything that Britain and the world is hoping for as we all work so hard to rise from the gloom of Covid,” says Oli.

Expect reimagined folk tunes and songs with mesmerising rhythms, blistering, jaw-dropping technique and haunting melodies. This bilingual masterpiece (in Welsh the title is Denwyd i’r Goleuni) is released on February 4 and comes with an accompanying booklet you read from one end in Welsh and from the other in English.

ALAW will be playing at Pontio, Bangor on Thursday 3 February 2022, 8pm as part of the Cabaret Pontio strand. Visit pontio.co.uk for tickets.

Drawn To The Light is available through the usual digital channels and, of course, in physical form from the band’s website www.alaw-band.com and at live gigs.

To buy tickets CLICK HERE