It's always a joy to get involved with another wonderful creative force - and Be Bop Da Jig are certainly one of those.
They came to me via an acquaintance who makes a living as one of Wales' most inventive prop makers (www.propmaker.co.uk) - so a round of applause for Mr Jason Hicks!
They also came to me via a gig one of the quartet was playing down Gower way. Dan James hadn't been here for long but he'd already discovered the magnificent watering holes that are The Joiners in Bishopston and The Railway in Killay. He's a Real Cider drinker (like Real Ale but with bits of core left in, I guess) and had heard all about Swansea's finest boozers.
The point of Jason putting us in touch was to promote a gug by Dan's Be Bop Da Jig at the end of this month in Monmouth. The wheels are in motion for some decent Press, with press releases having just gone to a bunch of newspapers in and around Monmouthshire, Gwent, Cardiff, Powys, Gloucs and Bristol. Hope you get some media hits, Dan.
With just a hint of journalistic licence, Dan is now being bigged up as "one of Wales' most thrilling folk troubadors" lining up a gig during the forthcoming Monmouth Festival week (July 24-Aug 1).
Strings specialist Dan is due to play the historic border town's Bridges Centre on Friday, July 31.
Blaenavon-based James will be with his four-piece Be Bop Da Jig whose other members are Blackwood double bass man Steve Tarner, Cardiff keyboards wizard Gareth Hall and celebrated Gilwern saxophonist Martha Skelton.
James, whose summer performances will cover 13 English and Welsh counties, reckons that Be Bop Da Jig fuse folk and modern jazz with blues. Sounds like a genuinely intoxicating formula and they've delighted audiences all over the place, from Mr Wolf’s Noodle Bar in Bristol to Thetford's White Hart, one of East Anglia's folk hotspots.
With the stunning line-up they now have, they're relishing the prospect of playing somewhere closer to home. The Monmouth date comes the night after a show at Cardiff's Millennium Centre and just over a week before they play the Brecon Jazz fringe.
Be Bop Da Jig's flourishing and eclectic soundscape has brought a growing reputation. A CD is available through music stores, at gigs and via the web - www.myspace.com/danjamesmandocello. BBC Radio Gloucestershire's famed Johnny Coppin called it "a fine album, with good energy."
Be Bop Da Jig receive regular airplay on Blaenau Gwent internet TV platform Brfm.Tv which also plans to broadcast the Monmouth gig.
Full-time professional folk musician and singer Dan James plays ancient stringed instrument the mandocello and the seven-string guitar. He is half of folk duo Miln & James and part of ceilidh trio Brand F.
He was singer/songwriter with the folk rockers Reincarnation, was a member of seminal folk band Firebrand and was guitarist with jazz outfit The Gareth Hall Quintet.
Dan has played the Glastonbury Festival five times and has performed as far afield as Jersey and Scotland. He appears on highly regarded compilation CDs A Feast of Folk and Best of British Folk alongside such luminaries as Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and Kathryn Tickell.
More info www.myspace.com/danjamesmandocello, www.monmouthfestival.co.uk, www.breconjazz.org
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