Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog

Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog
Origin	Rhos Botwnnog, Wales
Genres	Americana Folk Alternative country Rock Surf Country
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Sbrigyn Ymborth
Associated acts	Gwyneth Glyn, Jen Jeniro, Bob, Pala, Eryr, Madre Fuqueros, Plant Bach Annifyr, Gloria a'r Creions Piws, Cymdeithas yr Hobos Unig, Y Gwylanod, Lleuwen Steffan
Website	www.myspace.com/cowboisrhosbotwnnog
Members
Iwan Hughes Dafydd Hughes Aled Hughes Llyr Pari Branwen Williams Euron Jones

Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog are a three piece band consisting of brothers from Rhos Botwnnog, between the villages of Botwnnog and Llaniestyn in the Llyn Peninsula, North Wales. They experiment with country, folk and rock music. The three brothers, Iwan Hughes, Aled Hughes and Dafydd Hughes formed the band in 2006 and got a fair amount of attention from the Welsh language music scene through an early appearance on S4C's music programme 'Bandit'. BBC Radio Cymru's C2 programme also regularly aired demo’s that the band had recorded. By the time they had released their debut album; ‘Dawns Y Trychfilod’ on the Sbrigyn Ymborth label in 2007, they had already developed a good following and were regularly appearing on stage with some of Wales’s most well known acts. The album was produced by Dyl Mei and recorded at the producer's 'Blaen y Cae' studio, which is now closed. The band launched it with a headlining tour throughout Wales. The album reached the number 1 slot for numerous weeks on the C2 chart.

In 2008, the band worked to create a different sound, deciding to concentrate more on the country aspect of their music. They co-worked with singer-songwriter Gwyneth Glyn and pedal steel player Euron "Jos" Jones and released the single 'Paid a Deud', also on the Sbrigyn Ymborth label. The title track is a re-working of a traditional Welsh folk song.

Summer 2009 saw Llyr Pari of labelmates Jen Jeniro join the band as an additional live guitarist, and played at their biggest summer appearances at the Wakestock festival^[1] and Maes B at the Eisteddfod.

2010 was a quieter year for the band in terms of live performances as they concentrated on writing new material. Over the summer a version of Neil Young's Cortez The Killer creeped into the set. The band played the opening Sunday of the Royal Welsh's Young People's Village and the final saturday of the National Eisteddfod's Maes B.

The band were subject to a profile in North Wales and Liverpool's Daily Post newspaper in September 2010, in which Ian Hughes described the band as producing " a sound so independent and divorced from music lazily being made by a lot of other new groups." ^[2]

The band entered Bryn Derwen studio with producer and engineer Dave Wrench in September 2010. Once again, Branwen "Sbrings" Williams, who had provided backing vocals on 'Dawns y Trychfilod' and Euron "Jos" Jones were in tow, as well as Llyr "Tonto" Pari, who had regularly been playing live with the brothers. It was announced on October 15 that a new album will be released on December 11.

Members

• Iwan Glyn Hughes - Vocals, electric & acoustic guitar, keyboards, harmonica, banjo, bass guitar
• Dafydd Rhys Hughes - Vocals, drums & percussion
• Aled Wyn Hughes - Vocals, bass guitar, electric & acoustic guitar, vocoder, cosmic banjo

Collaborators & Additional members

• Gwyneth Glyn - Vocals, electric & acoustic guitar (studio & live)
• Llyr "Tonto" Pari - Electric guitar, bass guitar (studio & live)
• Euron "Jos" Jones - Pedal steel guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar (studio & live)
• Branwen "Sbrings" Williams - Vocals, Rhodes, organ (studio & live)
• Fflur Scott - Vocals (studio)
• Delyth Badder - Hammond Organ (live)
• Sion Glyn - Bass guitar (live)
• Osian Huw - Trumpet, bass guitar, acoustic guitar (studio)
• Karen Owen - Lyrics (studio)

Discography

Albums

• Dawns y Trychfilod (Sbrigyn Ymborth) - 2007
• Dyddiau Du, Dyddiau Gwyn (Sbrigyn Ymborth) - 2010 (Wales) / 2011 (UK)

Singles

• Paid a Deud with Gwyneth Glyn (Sbrigyn Ymborth) - 2008

EPs

• Y Cledrau with Karen Owen (BBC Sesiwn Unnos) - 2011
• Y Record Goch (10" vinyl & download) - compilation vinyl EP with Y Bwgan, Sen Segur and Dau Cefn. (Recordiau Lliwgar) - 2011

Radio Sessions

• BBC Radio Cymru C2 Acoustic Session - 2006
• BBC Radio Cymru C2 Studio Session - 2006
• BBC Radio Cymru C2 Acoustic Session - Ystafell Werdd - 2007
• BBC Radio Cymru Acoustic Session - Sesiwn Fach - 2009
• BBC Radio Cymru C2 Studio Session - 2009

References

1. ^ [1]"BBC North West Wales", July 14, 2009
2. ^ Hughes, Ian [2], "Daily Post", September 17, 2010

External links

• Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog on Myspace