Female folk-punk band Adwaith will bring the noise to Liverpool on Friday 7 February with a free lunchtime gig to celebrate Welsh Language Music Day.

The three-piece from Carmarthenshire will perform a free show for the public at the British Music Experience (BME), inside the Cunard Building at Liverpool’s iconic Pier Head from 1pm.

Liverpool joins locations around the world hosting a gig to celebrate the fifth annual Welsh Language Music Day – Dydd Miwsig Cymru.

The city of course has strong historic links with Wales, with migrant workers from the country next door building homes in the famous ‘Welsh streets’ in Toxteth and settling in the city in the 19th Century.

Adwaith, who won the coveted Welsh Music Prize in November 2019 for their album Melyn are part of what Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens has called a ‘golden era for Welsh language music’.

Kevin McManus, head of UNESCO City of Music, says: “It is really exciting news that Liverpool will be joining in the celebrations of Welsh Language Music Day with a gig by the brilliant Adwaith.

“Liverpool is an international music city as is formally recognised in our UNESCO City of designation and as such we are always keen to welcome and celebrate music from all over the world.

“Therefore, it is only fitting that we should join up with our near neighbours Wales. Liverpool and Wales have always enjoyed a strong and close relationship and this gig is a great affirmation of these strong historic links.

“Liverpool is rightly known for its Irish influence due to the mass Irish immigration to the city but historically Liverpool also attracted a large number of Welsh immigrants in search of work.

“The evidence of Welsh influence is still obvious in the city through family names and more obviously through the famous ‘Welsh Streets’ in Toxteth. 

“The gig by Adwaith, one of the most exciting groups emerging from what is a really interesting period for Welsh music, is a not to be missed gig. So, get down to the Pier Head for this very special one-off gig for Welsh Language Music Day.”

Five musical links between Liverpool and Wales

1. The Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr was born in was born in 9 Madryn Street, where he lived until the age of four. The streets were built in the 19^th Century by immigrant Welsh workers as part of Toxteth’s ‘Welsh Streets’.
2. Rock duo Alffa, originally from Llanrug in North Wales but now living in Liverpool and studying at Liverpool John Moores University, have seen their songs streamed more than three million times on Spotify.
3. The Welsh annual celebration of music and culture, the Eisteddfod, has been held in the city in 1884, 1900 and in Sefton Park in 1929, the last time the event has been held outside of Wales, when record crowds attended. The city’s Welsh population was estimated at 75,000 at that point.
4. Wirral-born legendary DJ John Peel introduced listeners across the country to Welsh language music in the 1980s and 90s with experimental bands like Datblygu (Welsh for ‘development’) and Yr Anhrefn (Welsh for ‘disorder’) performing a number of sessions for his Radio 1 show.
5. The sleeve notes to Super Furry Animals’ seminal album ‘Radiator’ (1997) included a drawing of a chemist in Liverpool’s Chinatown.

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