boia gigs
Some pictures from the Boia Festival in St Davids last weekend. This was the second year of the festival which is spread between 2 main venues in St Davids along with smaller spaces in local venues in the town. This year, Gaz Coombs headlined in the City Hall but some other great names came to the festival including Katy J Pearson, John Blek, Seamus Fogarty, Arborist, Jesca Hoop, Anna B Savage and many more.
Erin Rae from Nashville played the RAFA club in St Davids on Friday night with support from the excellent Christopher Rees.
From Erin’s website…
Gifted with a unique ability to fuse musical genres and influences to craft songs that feel fresh and wholly her own, with her new album Putting On Airs, Erin Rae has thrown down a direct challenge to the stereotype of what a Southern singer should be. Both lyrically and sonically, she strikes a fiercely independent chord, proudly releasing a deeply personal record that reflects her own upbringing in Tennessee, including the prejudices and injustices that she witnessed as a child that continue to impact her life to this day. According to Rae, "this album was born out of a need to do some healing work in my personal life, in order to address some fears and patterns of mine to allow my true feelings to come to the surface."
I was lucky enough to get along to Owain’s new studio in the wilds of mid Pembrokeshire for a really special gig the other night. A Boia Gigs event with a very limited amount of tickets on offer made for a really intimate night in the company of Emily Barker, with Lukas Drinkwater alongside. Owain has created a beautiful space to record and perform music in an old chapel, now lovingly converted into a dream studio. Emily performed her songs for a small, captivated audience to make for a magical first gig in this unique setting. A perfect place to record music and a brilliant venue for this kind of tiny event, it was great to be there as the first one unfolded. New life given to a space that has seen song, emotion and spirituality within its walls from the beginning; it’s a wonderful thing to see its history continue in a fresh form. In attendance was Jeff, who told me that 4 of his sisters had been married in the chapel and both his parents lay at rest in the graveyard. His smile as he left showed that the new chapter is a welcome turn of the page.
As usual, keep an eye out for Boia Gigs events in Pembrokeshire. There are some excellent nights ahead.
On Thursday at The Meadow in St Davids, I went along to take some pictures of Twin Bandit (a folk duo/band from Vancouver, Canada) and local duo Sky Barkers playing some beautiful tunes. We don't often get live acts making the effort to journey all the way to play for us in Pembrokeshire so it's been lovely to have Boia Gigs attract some quality acts to St Davids.
Twin Bandit are on a European tour and had been in London the previous evening before flying to Amsterdam the following day; from Britain's largest city to it's smallest before hitting mainland Europe, we appreciated the effort! Be sure to check them out if they are in your neighbourhood.
The Meadow is also recommended as a great place to get fed and watered if you're in St Davids.
“You have a talent for capturing expression and the feeling of that show. We are so grateful, it was a beautiful night and it’s such a joy to remember it by these pictures!”
