Toby Hay

Performing pieces from his brand new album - ‘The Longest Day’ as well as the welsh music prize nominated 2017 album - ‘The Gathering’

Folk music often seems to emerge from the ground, a necessary outgrowth of a particular place or time. This is true of Toby Hay, who has lived all his life on the edge of the mid-Wales town of Rhayader, a place of dark skies and wild weather where, as Hay says, ‘everything moves at a slower pace, and the air is fresh in the true sense of the word.’ It is a place that Hay carries with him and which permeates his unique music. Hay’s debut, The Gathering, was an earthy gem of 2017. As nature writer Robert Macfarlane, who penned the liner notes for that album, observed: ‘the world’s dew gleams on this music, but the world’s dust swirls through it too.’ Now Hay returns with The Longest Day, recorded live over four days in Giant Wafer studios in Wales and mixed by Toby’s brother Tim. Its release coincides with the summer solstice, and it is another bright offering, both more celebratory and more urgent than its predecessor. Hay is a 12 string guitarist and his style, with its penchant for unusual tunings, is all his own. His distinctive sound often comes from a desire to make his guitar sound like another instrument altogether. “The guitar is set up to play in some very unusual tunings and my technique would probably make a classical player wince. But it is mine, and I love it.” He engages with landscapes and their inhabitants, and while The Gathering painted a musical portrait of Hay’s home, the scope of The Longest Day is broader. Travel, he admits, has had a jarring effect on his music. “When touring The Gathering I was on the road a lot. I think this music is inspired by moving through places, often at speed and also I think a sense of missing home in a very literal way.”

“Hay’s album is a stunning turning point in what we have come to call folk music. A beautiful, frank and mysterious statement..” — Folk Radio UK

“The Gathering is a brilliantly conceived and realised debut record and its locational compositions contain some of the most emotive and expressive new music you’ll hear this year.” — fRoots

David Ian Roberts

Performing songs from his forthcoming album - ‘Travelling Bright’, released 2019.

With a unique voice and virtuosic fingerstyle guitar playing at the centre of his style, David combines the sounds of 60's and 70's folk acts, with Indian and classical music. Whilst influenced by artists such as Nick Drake, John Martyn and Elliott Smith, his ability on the guitar is based upon an ambition to bring original sounds and arrangements from his instrument.

‘Poetry, Jazz, Folk… A fascinating voice’ Frank Hennessey, BBC Radio Wales

“…Compelling…exquisite…extraordinary…blissful’ Simon Holland, FolkRadioUK