Gwilym Morus, Drymbago's lead singer, with his first solo album re-defines folk music by changing the instrumentation and sometimes combining it with African rhythms. It was recorded at Bryn Derwen Studio, Bethesda over the 2004 Christmas period and was produced by Dave Wrench.

Gwilym is originally from Wrexham, but spent a number of years living in Birmingham where he played for a number of Blues / Soul bands including an Ottis Redding cover band. He lists Bob Dylan, Nick Drake and Meic Stevens among his musical influences.




From Bethlehem to Bangor
Date 28.03.06 | by Gwilym Morus

The launch of the first Alternative Information ep, From Bethlehem to Bangor last December has attracted positive attention from the media. During February I spent another 10 days in Palestine and Israel with a film crew making an arts documentary on this project. The programme will be aired on S4C on May 11th at 9pm and on Sunday 14th at 7.30. Teletext 888 for English subtitles.




“With DAN Y NEN I’ve tried to simplify and strip down the sound that I’m making. I’ve tried to get back to straight forward arrangements. I’ve always wanted to give the words more space. I’m really happy that I’ve been able to use two cellists on this recording, and both of them have been incredibly patient and helpufull. I really love the sound of the cello, it’s very close to the human voice; in a few of the songs –like Ar Ddisberod and Arian a Baw, I’ve tried to create fluid, moving harmonies between both voices and the cellos. Myself and Lowri have put a fair amount of work into tuning into each other’s voices and I think she’s done a brilliant job on the album – even though some of the songs are almost out of her natural range she holds the notes perfectly. Henry (piano) has also been quite a find because he’s very sensitive to what I’m doing on the guitar and he instinctively gets into the hypnotic patterns of some of the songs.

A lot of the songs take moral stances on different issues – politics and the media, but also the whole crazy work ethic. I’ve tried to keep the lyrics plain and simple but I’ve also indulged in a bit of mistyness here and there.”

Additional notes : Gwilym is also the lead singer in Drymbego, Dan y Nen is his second solo album – Traffig was relased in 2004. Gwilym was raised near Wrecsam.