Carraig Aonair were a pioneering Celtic folk group
from the 1970's and into the early 1980's.
They produced two vinyl LP albums, Carraig Aonair in 1977,
and CA2 in 1983. Their music included songs and instrumentals
from Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Cornish,
Manx and Breton traditions. The band line up included
bass, drums, violin, flute, guitars, mandolin, banjo,
keyboards, whistles and vocals.
One of the trademarks of the group was the use of a wide variety
of acoustic and electric instruments as well as synthesizers. The music was
very much a blend of the old and the new.
On the second album the instrumental 'Bells of Aberdovey' was
constructed using tape loops and overdubbed with
multilayered voices and extraneous percussion effects. The Welsh tune
'Lisa Lan' had influences of the German synthesizer
band Kraftwerk and was used as a theme tune to a daily news programme
on BBC Radio 4. The group made numerous radio and
television appearances and were chosen twice by the BBC to represent
Wales in the InterCeltic festival in Lorient, Brittany,
where they supported Joan Baez, Alan Stivell and Silly Wizard among others.
Carraig Aonair's music has been extensively used as theme and incidental
music on radio and television and Canadian film.
The first and second albums recorded on the Gwerin label took the many
influences of the Celtic countries and contained electric
and acoustic styles with some classical touches.
