Rhodes, Mark

English

Michigan Technological University

Michigan Technological University Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Michigan Tech Publications 4-2020 American Influences at the National Eisteddfod Mark Rhodes Michigan Technological University, marhodes@mtu.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p  Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Rhodes, M. (2020). American Influences at the National Eisteddfod. Ninnau: The North American Welsh Newspaper, 45(2), 11. Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/1262 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p  Part of the Anthropology Commons March-April 2020 NINNAU          Page 11Welsh Number PlatesA great response to the request for photos of Welsh license plates. Photos sent in by Phil HumphriesPlease continue to send photos of license plate with a Welsh connection. Additional photos were received and will be published in following issues of Ninnauninnaupublications@gmail.comBy Dr. Mark RhodesIn the Nov-Dec 2017 issue ofNinnau I asked how we come todevelop our sense of nationalhistory and identity. In manyways our identities and her-itages are performances.Metaphorically or literally wedon costumes, sing anthems, orspeak the language as represen-tations of our nation. One institution that has cometo define so much of Welshidentity both in Wales andacross the diaspora is theeisteddfod. While there aresome ongoing controversies –or at least inconsistencies – inthe heritage and history of thefestival, I focus here on howAmerican folk music, activism,and popular culture featurestrongly in the NationalEisteddfod. Below, I exploreexamples of American influenceupon Welsh folk music and inthe next issue of Ninnau, I willexpand upon these to reveal thelasting impacts of Paul Robesonas well as other AfricanAmerican and Afro-Caribbeanthemes.Naturally, there are seriousreservations throughout theNational Eisteddfod of Englishand England’s influence.However, one of my first obser-vations at the 2017 NationalEisteddfod in Anglesey (myfirst eisteddfod) was the sheeramount of American influence.From brass bands on the main-stage playing Eye of the Tiger,to dance groups moving toRhianna, or to Pete Seeger,Woody Guthrie, and CatStevens infiltrating folk perfor-mances, American culture waseverywhere.Additionally, people oftenassign American equivalents totop Welsh artists and bands.Besides the blatant connectionof the band Bob Delyn, thewell-known Meic Stevens isoften referred to as the “WelshBob Dylan”. As a featured artistin the folk music pavilion, TýGwerin, Stevens played to anoverflowing standing-room-only in 2018. And while he maybe referenced as a Welsh BobDylan, this reaches beyond hismusical style to his cuttinglyrics often aimed at the BritishState. For example, “DicPenderyn,” tells the story of thecoal miner falsely accused ofmurder during the MerthyrRising of 1831, hanged, andmade a martyr of the Welshworking class. Interestingly enough, howev-er, Stevens musical connectionsto Led Zeppelin indicate a pos-sible misnomer. Stevens, favor-ing the heavy slide blues guitar,indicates some stylistic connec-tions to Jimmy Page. John PaulJones wrote the string arrange-ment on Stevens first album,solidifying the link between theEnglish band and Stevens. Butthe connection between BobDylan’s maneuvering of folk,pop, rock ‘n’ roll, and story-telling at least reveals where theidea of the Welsh Dylanemerges, whether or not Stevenswas directly influenced in thethree years between Dylan’sfirst album in 1962 and Stevens’in 1965. Another folk group with clearAmerican influence, who hap-pen to be touring the US thisMarch, is Calan. Performingboth at the 2017 and 2018National Eisteddfodau, includ-ing in the headliner supergroup,Pendevig, Calan brings togetherelements of rock, pop, and rapinto their traditional five-pieceband. They sing, clog, and playthe harp, accordion, fiddle,acoustic guitar, bagpipes, pib-gorn, and other traditional andmodern Welsh instruments.Like the supergroup Pendevig,which brought together 15 starsof Welsh folk music in 2018,including all the Calan band-members, Calan aims to bringtraditional Welsh music into thetwenty-first century by deliver-ing existing folk melodies (andtheir original work) to youngeraudiences accustomed to theAnglo-American music scene.The artist Iestyn Tyne, who isalso a member of Pendevig aswell as the band Patrobas,responded to some of theseobservations via a recent emailconversation:The impact of American popculture is a very real thing, andmore so, as you say, thanEnglish pop culture. This maybe because English culture isunfortunately connected – his-torically and in the current day– to the oppression of Welshculture. In the same way, yousee far more Welsh poets draw-ing inspiration from Americanand European poetry than fromthe poetry of our next-doorneighbours. There’s also an ele-ment of romance there – theunknown and distant land /Eldorado…Despite an emergent patternof American influence, thisdoesn’t mean England and theirmusic scene escapes any influ-ence in Wales, as I already hint-ed with Meic Stevens’ LedZeppelin influence. The popgroup Eden, stars of the 2017Eisteddfod dubbed the WelshSpice Girls, also demonstrates aclear English impact. Eden, par-ticularly with their three-womendance group, heavy pop bass,and powerful lights andpyrotechnics, clearly drawsfrom the Anglo-pop scene intheir performative style. Theirrecent come-back tour in paral-lel to the Spice Girls reuniononly served to reinforce thisconnection. However, likeStevens, or Calan for that mat-ter, Eden also brings togethertraditional elements. Mostprominently during their 2017mainstage show was a songwhere three additional perform-ers came onto stage with theflags of Wales and St. Davidand began clogging along to theheavy bass rhythm of the pop group.   So, how has Welsh identityand performance dealt with theheavy American influx into theNational Eisteddfod? TheCardiff-based musicologist Dr.Sarah Hill also asks in her 2007book, ‘Blerwytirhwng?’ thePlace of Welsh Pop Music,“How can Welshness bedefined if it is expressedthrough an adopted Anglo-American cultural product?”The pervasiveness of pop,blues, gospel, spirituals, andAmerican folk clearly influ-ences the heritage of theEisteddfod. Iestyn Tynedescribed this influence as acyclical pattern–—one thatshould be welcomed rather thanresisted within the broaderWelsh folk and traditionalscene, since, of course, mostAmerican folk, pop, and coun-try music comes from a richlegacy of European Americanand African American musictraditions:  I think also that Americanfolk / country / bluegrass music,which in part descends from thefolk music of the British Isles,has come ‘round in a full loopand now influences a number ofcontemporary folk groups inWales—bands such as CowboisRhos Botwnnog and Plu. It isdefinitely due to the smashingof a few narrow-minded ideasand rules around ‘what it’sacceptable to do with folkmusic’ that this has beenallowed to come about. Longmay it continue. Pendevig ofcourse draws many influencesfrom jazz, funk and drum ‘nbass – not exactly native Welshtraditions either.Welsh identity and Welshheritage today have severaltraces back to American influ-ence, particularly in the musicscene. By looking at the perfor-mances at the NationalEisteddfod each year, we see somany of these different cultureswhich add to the richness of thefestival, and in the next issue ofNinnau, I’ll turn my attentionaway from the folk music sceneand towards two of the featuredevents of the 2018 NationalEisteddfod in Cardiff Baywhich further broaden these cul-tural impacts.Mark Rhodes is AssistantProfessor of Geography,Michigan Technological Uni-versity. marhodes@mtu.eduAmerican Influences at the National Eisteddfod The Tý Gwerin folk music pavilion – seen here at the 2017National Eisteddfod on AngleseyIestyn Tyne, fourth from the left, ‘plays’ a blue butterfly net during a final song of the Sea Shanty Battles in Tý Gwerin in 2017.Sioni Dda John Good Solo performer     Welsh pipes, harp, flutes,      whistles and voice  Storyteller, poet, lecturer Welsh teacher & translator Director of Cymanfaoedd      www.tramormusic.com www.youtube.com/TramorMusic potelobop@hotmail.com 602-509-5223    Tramor Welsh-American Acoustic Project 

American Influences at the National Eisteddfod

https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2260&amp;context=michigantech-p

American Influences at the National Eisteddfod

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Michigan Technological University