Carreg Lafar

At the forefront of the Welsh traditional music scene, Carreg LafarÆs passionate and lively performances have changed many peopleÆs view of Welsh traditional music. The group has released two albums and toured in the U.K., Europe and North America. Linda Owen Jones comes from Wrexham in North Wales originally but moved to Cardiff in 1982 to train as an actor. She has enjoyed a varied career in theater and television and her singing has won her much acclaim, before and since joining Carreg Lafar as the main vocalist four years ago. Rhian Evan Jones comes from Ton Pentre in the Rhondda Valley and started playing the violin when she was 10 years old. She obtained a music degree from Cardiff University and has performed as a soloist and with professional orchestras. She began playing traditional music with Carreg Lafar seven years ago and is now recognized as on of WalesÆ top fiddlers. She is a music teacher at a secondary school in Pontypridd. Antwn Owen Hicks was born in Pontllanfraith in the Sirhowy Valley, South Wales. After training as an illustrator in London, h moved back to Wales and now works at the Arts Council of Wales. He is a self-taught traditional musician, singing and playing various instruments including percussion, whistle and bagpipes. Together with James Rourke, he is a founding member of the band. James Rourke was born in Llanelli, West Wales. He trained as an actor and recently completed a film-making course culminating in a short film entitled ôMother.ö Rourke is currently writing scripts for film and television, but is also a novelist. His first novel, ôThe Mayor of Aln,ö was published in 1999 and he plans to start work on the sequel this year. Rourke began playing the flute at the age of fifteen and started playing traditional Welsh music with Welsh folk group ôCarraig Aonair.ö Dylan Davies joined Carreg Lafar in January, 1999. He comes from Rhosllanerchrugog near Wrexham and originally trained as a dancer. He is a singer and songwriter in his own right, and has recorded two albums. The most recent, ôDynfnach na Dwfn,ö was released in February 2000.