A three-year project “which aims to put west Wales and its fragile traditions firmly back on the musical map” has unearthed rare material which has never been recorded before.

That’s according to the man behind the project, Owen Shiers.

Hailing from the Clettwr Valley, Owen’s project, Cynefin, has culminated in the release of an album packed full of songs gathered and researched in Ceredigion.

“The songs are a reimagining of the (mostly) forgotten folk tradition here,” Owen told Julie McNicholls Vale.

“There’s quite a bit of rare material, a lot of which has never been recorded before.”

The album, Dilyn Afon, came out on 27 January and uncovers lost voices, melodies and stories as it goes, giving a modern voice to Ceredigion’s rich yet fragile cultural heritage and presenting forgotten and neglected material in a fresh new light.

It has been produced by John Hollis who has also worked with Catrin Finch, Seckou Keita and Toto La Momposina.

Looking back to the start of the project, Owen said: “In 2017 I received a Finzi Trust scholarship to research and collect songs from Ceredigion.

“This material from this culminated in the Cynefin project which has toured festivals across the UK and last year received a nomination in the inaugural Welsh Folk Awards.

“This January saw the project’s debut album, Dilyn Afon (Following a River), released on the Astar Artes Label.”

Thanks to the 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.

Read the full story in Maes, our music, arts and events scene section, in this week’s Cambrian News, on sale now