 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2010) |
The Hennessys | |
|---|---|
 Iolo Jones, Frank Hennessy and Dave Burns on stage at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Cardiff, Wales |
| Genres | Folk |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Members | Frank Hennessy, Dave Burns, Iolo Jones, Pino Palladino |
| Past members | Paul Powell, Aloma Jones, Tom Edwards |
The Hennessys are one of Wales' foremost traditional folk music groups.
In 1966, Frank Hennessy and Dave Burns (born David Burns, 4 November 1946, in Cardiff), both from Cardiff's Irish community, won a talent competition organised by Cardiff City Council which persuaded them to take up music professionally shortly afterwards, adding Paul Powell (born in 1946, in Cardiff – died 2007) on banjo and vocals. [1] Having achieved success in the Cardiff area, they decided to spend some time travelling around Ireland, to acquire a wider musical experience. [1] It was at this time that they were persuaded to develop a greater Welsh identity, and they started to introduce traditional Welsh language songs into their repertoire, with great success, and their career took off.
They appeared regularly on television in Wales, appeared on stage throughout the country and recorded several albums. [1] Many of their songs like "Farewell to the Rhondda" (about the decline of the mining industry in Wales and its social consequences), "Tiger Bay" (about emigration from Tiger Bay, the dockland district of Cardiff) and the capital's anthem "Cardiff Born" have become folk standards. Other hits include "The Grangetown Whale" and "Billy the Seal".
The current line-up still includes Hennessy (on guitar) and Burns (on guitar and mandolin), who have now been joined by fiddle player Iolo Jones (born 12 February 1955, in Plymouth, England). [1]
Frank Hennessy has been hosting his own radio programmes on BBC Radio Wales since 1984.
The current member of bass guitarist player Pino Palladino (born 12 October 1957, in Cardiff) since 2024.
Maxwell Boyce, is a Welsh comedian, singer and entertainer from Glynneath, Wales. He rose to fame in the mid-1970s with an act that combined musical comedy with his passion for rugby union and his origins in a South Wales mining community. Boyce's We All Had Doctors' Papers (1975) remains the only comedy album to have topped the UK Albums Chart and he has sold more than two million albums in a career spanning four decades.
Pontypridd is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre.
Tiger Bay was the local name for an area of Cardiff which covered Butetown and Cardiff Docks. Following the building of the Cardiff Barrage, which dams the tidal rivers, Ely and Taff, to create a body of water, it is referred to as Cardiff Bay. Tiger Bay is Wales’ oldest multi-ethnic community, with sailors and workers from over 50 countries settling there from the mid-19th century onwards.
The Music of Wales, particularly singing, is a significant part of Welsh national identity, and the country is traditionally referred to as "the land of song".
Dafydd Iwan Jones is a Welsh singer and nationalist politician who rose to fame writing and performing folk music in the Welsh language. From 2003 to 2010, Iwan was the president of Plaid Cymru, a political party which advocates for Welsh independence from the UK.
South Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park covers about a third of south Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia.
Amen Corner were a Welsh rock group formed in Cardiff, Wales. They are best known for their hits "Bend Me, Shape Me" (1967), "High in the Sky" (1968) and the chart-topper "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" (1969).
Cerys Matthews is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.
Ar Log are a Welsh folk band. They have performed since the 1970s and are recognized as the first professional Welsh folk band. They perform instrumental music and songs in Welsh.
Calan is a five-piece revivalist traditional Welsh band formed by their manager Huw Williams in early 2006 when its members were only 13 to 22 years old. In 2008, they created great excitement at the Inter Celtic Festival where they would eventually be the first Welsh band to win the coveted international band competition.
Meic Stevens is a Welsh singer-songwriter. He has been one of the most prominent figures in the Welsh music scene for over five decades, and played a key role in establishing the popular music scene in Wales. He is described by some as "the Welsh Bob Dylan" and has also been compared favorably with musicians such as Syd Barrett. Stevens's songs are mostly sung in his native Welsh language and have a mystical, faintly psychedelic flavour. His work has influenced groups such as Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Super Furry Animals. He is largely unknown outside Wales.
Tylorstown is a village and community located in the Rhondda valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is neighboured by the villages of Blaenllechau, Ferndale, Penrhys, Pontygwaith and Stanleytown.
The music of Cardiff has been dominated mainly by rock music since the early 1990s with later trends developing towards more extreme styles of the genre such as heavy metal and metalcore music. It, along with the nearby music scene in Newport, has brought a number of musicians to perform or begin their careers in South Wales.
Mansel Treharne Thomas, was a Welsh composer and conductor, who worked mainly in South Wales. He was one of the most influential musicians of his generation, known as a composer, conductor and adjudicator. He was for many years employed by the BBC and promoted the careers of many composers and performers. He himself wrote vocal, choral, instrumental, band and orchestral music, specialising in setting songs and poetry. Many of his orchestral and chamber music pieces are based on Welsh folk songs and dances.
Frank Hennessy is a Welsh folk singer and radio presenter.
Meredydd Evans, known colloquially as Merêd, was a collector, editor, historian and performer of folk music of Wales. A major figure in Welsh media for over half a century, Evans has been described as influencing "almost every sphere of Welsh cultural life, from folk music and philosophy to broadcasting and language politics".
Mai Jones, was a Welsh songwriter, entertainer and radio producer.
The timeline of Cardiff history shows the significant events in the history of Cardiff which transformed it from a small Roman fort into the modern capital city of Wales.
Tich Gwilym, born Robert Gwilliam, was a Welsh rock guitarist who was most notable for his Hendrix inspired version of the Welsh national anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, considered one of the most famous renditions of the song.
Under the Driftwood Tree are a Cardiff-based band founded in Wales by Kitt Stoodley in 2008. Their music is described as 'surfer folk' and is based on vocal harmonies and unusual instruments, including ukulele, didgeridoo, djembe, cajon and accordion as well as acoustic guitars and bass.
| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
