On Thursday, 30 May, local singer-songwriter Owen Shiers will bring to life the forgotten songs of old in a powerful performance at Ceredigion Museum.

Cynefin is the creative vision of Clettwr Valley native Owen.

Fascinated by music and history, Owen brings out the musical voice of this part of Wales.

Starting out from his home village of Capel Dewi and travelling through the musical landscape of Ceredigion, Owen has been unearthing seasoned songs and stories, giving them new life in the present.

With funding from the Finzi Trust, Owen was able to delve through unseen archive material and unearth songs from Ceredigion’s lost histories.

From the grumbles of millers past, musings of balladeers to the everyday tales of ‘y werin’ – the resulting material is unique both in its originality (some of the songs have not been sung for over hundreds of years let alone recorded) but also in the arrangements which are distinct and ambitious.

Owen said: “Following a chance discovery of a long forgotten song by a local ballad singer, I was inspired to uncover more of the untold stories of the locals whose voices have been lost over the centuries.”

The project’s title Cynefin is a Welsh noun with no direct equivalent in English, its origins lie in a farming term used to describe the habitual tracks and trails worn by sheep in hillsides.

The word has since morphed and deepened to conjure a very personal sense of place, belonging and familiarity.

Owen’s performance of Cynefin coincides with Ceredigion Museum’s Sheep exhibition. Open until 29 June, this multimedia art exhibition looks at the history, heritage and culture of sheep farming communities across Wales.

Cynefin is at Ceredigion Museum on 30 May at 7.30pm.

Owen is also performing on Wednesday, 29 May, 7.30pm, at Neuadd yr Ysgol, Llanfihangel-Ar-Arth, Pencader, with support from harpist, Cerys Hafana.

For more of what’s on in your area, see this week’s Cambrian News