Culture. Isn’t culture wonderful. I expect as the nights are drawing in many people are thinking back to their summer holidays and marvelling at how lucky the rest of the world is when it comes to culture. The Italians with their Roman architecture, their love of food and style and well…their love of love. The French again with their gastronomic delights and that ‘je ne sais quoi’ and their ‘Joie de vivre’. Then there’s the Greeks and Spanish. I bet as soon as I mention them, straight away you get a picture in your mind of their individual cultures. It’s just a shame we don’t have any??
That’s the problem when it comes to recognising our very own unique cultural heritage. We don’t consider the way we live and act and spend our time as being anything other than normal. We don’t see our own culture very clearly because its so close to us. But we do have something special. I love it and try my best to champion it too.
When the new Swansea City owners come to town from the States they always head to the Railway Inn for pre match drinks. Now you might think that’s what every normal person does, and I expect people do similar things before sporting events around the world, but the atmosphere in the Railway Inn on match day is unique. It’s funny, colourful, loud, bawdy and The Americans see that as being special probably more clearly than we do.
Welsh Cakes in Swansea Market.
When I have visitors to the city I always try to take them to Swansea Market. There are markets in every city, and they all have their own characteristics that reflect the people they serve. I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world and visited markets from Mauritius to Memphis. Each one feels similar but very different. Our market is just as special as all the rest with its Welsh Cakes, Laverbread and Cockles along side hairdressers, nail bars and little girls’ Welsh costumes.
This week I’ve had the chance to celebrate some unique cultural experiences and it’s made me very proud.
The last few months have been pretty intense as I’ve been preparing for my Homecoming Concert at the Swansea Arena. After a big project like that there is a possibility of feeling ‘post tour blues’.
The first time it really hit me was after a National Tour of my musical ‘Amazing Grace’. After years writing and planning, leading up to a 6 week tour, the curtain finally came down on the show in Llandudno. The next day I drove home and then…nothing. The phone stopped ringing. No one was asking me to make decisions about music or actors or costumes. There was silence.
Ever since then I have always tried to have the next project bubbling ready to take over.
Even during the weeks leading up to the Arena Concert I was working on this year’s ‘Everyone Deserves A Christmas’ Charity record. I had written the song back in early spring and even recorded some other artists by the summer time (more on them nearer the time). This week, with the Homecoming Concerts back in their box until 2026, it was time to crack on with Christmas.
On Tuesday evening I went to the Clase Social Club to meet up with the Swansea Silver Rhythmaires. I have always been a fan of the Marching Jazz Bands. Growing up in Swansea they were a regular feature at the various carnivals held in the region. There were the Comedy Show Bands made up of men dressed as everything from Cowboys or Tarzans to something from St Trinians which always made the crowd laugh. The most impressive were bands usually made up of girls with the occasional ‘big bloke’ behind a massive bass drum.
As a family we usually headed to the Guildhall to view the Swansea Carnival coming around the bend down past Joes. You could hear the bands from a long way off. There was the massive thump of the bass drum and the rattle of the snare drums and then every so often the marimbas and glockenspiels would start setting the ground work for the Kazoos to join in. And it wasn’t just the sound, it was the colour of the costumes and the precision of the marching and the ability for the leader to throw up a baton or mace and catch it without missing a beat. I thought every town had Marching Jazz Bands, it turns out it was special for us and part of our culture.
The writers of the film Twin Town recognised the bands in their film, and I was determined that when we made ‘Jack To A King’, the documentary about Swansea City, our film would start overlooking the bay with a Jazz Majorette twirling her baton.
Over the years I have been responsible for putting together any number of Christmas Records to support the Everyone Deserves A Christmas Hamper Charity. Every year I try to think of different ways to involve more people. As soon as I finished writing this year’s song I knew I wanted the Swansea Silver Rhythmaires.
The Rhythmaires have an amazing history. When we filmed them for ‘Jack To A King’ they were the current World Champions and as well as appearing in the film they also performed at the Swansea Premier of the film.
A few weeks ago I emailed Craig Fulford Astley, one of the leaders of the band, and explained my idea. Almost straight away he replied saying the band would love to be involved. That’s why I was in Clase on Tuesday evening.
This recording session was just for the record itself. We broke down the sections to drums, marimbas, glocks and kazoos and recorded each part separately. That evening we laughed a lot but when it came time to play it all got very serious. That’s the point of these bands its supposed to be fun but when it comes to performing there is a dedication and concentration that makes it very special.
I’ve taken the recordings and added them to the growing number of performers on the record. Over the next week or so I’ll be adding choirs and orchestras. We then have to film the video all in time for an end of November release date. If I was thinking of taking some time off after the Arena, then I really have had to think again!