2025 has flown by! In this installment of Folk & Mirrors we wanted to update you on everything we have been up to since our last post in June.
We really enjoyed performing at Bourton's - the Love Live Music Awards ‘venue of the year’! Chris and Jade were so friendly and welcoming, we were treated to some delicious food, and the atmosphere was cosy and intimate. Irish Tom did an excellent set, and it was lovely to perform for some new faces.
Next up was our interview with Kym on Newport City Radio. It was great to have a catch up and chat about our EP 'Stained In Red'. It was our first time visiting the team at their studio at Kingsway Shopping Centre and we loved the space. If you haven't already, make sure you check out Newport City Radio either live or by catching up with shows on their website.
We finished off June with a busy weekend! We opened Rebel Fest at the Tiny Rebel Brewery in Rogerstone. It was a beautiful day with a lovely crowd, and we were really pleased with how our set was received. The line up was fantastic- we spent the whole day at the festival enjoying the music and the delicious food. The next evening we supported Ophelia's Beard at the Phyllis Maud Performance Space. It was an amazing opportunity for us - the Phyllis Maud is such a unique and wonderful venue and we had been keen to perform there for a while. We met Ophelia at the second open mic we ever performed at and have been big fans ever since so we were very excited to support Ophelia's Beard. We had another performance at the Phyllis Maud in August as part of their Folk Night- another special evening of music!
We performed at Caerleon Arts Festival on what felt like one of the hottest days of the year. We have never been so warm whilst on stage! The crowd was in good spirits and it was an excellent turn out. On the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of weather, we spent a very rainy day at Caerphilly Cheese festival. Despite the downpour, there were plenty of people browsing the stalls and enjoying the live music. We had some tasty food and really enjoyed ourselves.
We started off the autumn with a fundraiser for St David's Hospice Care at Le Pub. We are so grateful to Awdl and Destan Donemi for their beautiful sets and their help raising money for such a worthy cause. The staff at Le pub were great as always, and we were so happy that so many people came out to support the event. We managed to raise £360.00 and we want to say another big thank you to everyone involved.
At the end of September we released our latest single, 'Rebecca'. We are so proud of this song and had such a positive experience recording it with Tobias Roberston. We feel like we have really found our sound with this song, and we cannot wait to share more new music over the coming months. Thank you to everyone who has listened to Rebecca - if you haven't heard it yet you can find it on most streaming platforms.
We spent an afternoon at One Louder Studios recording some live tracks with Owain Hiscocks. His method for setting up the microphones to capture the intimate sounds up close but also the atmospheric sounds of the entire room was really interesting, and we are really happy with the final mix. Keep an eye out early next year for the tracks to be released!
In October, Newport town centre was buzzing with activity for the food festival. We started the day by performing in Newport Arcade next to Arcadia Bistro. There was an independent market in the arcade with lots of footfall so it was a lovely place to perform. After lunch we headed over to the Market Arcade to perform next to Arcade Skincare. There were some lovely stalls in the arcade and plenty of people who enjoyed the music while they were exploring. The food festival is always such a positive day for the city and seems to get better and better each year.
We are still hosting open mic nights at Arcadia coffeehouse on the last Monday of every month. You don't need to sign up in advance- just come along on the night. You can put your name down to perform or just sit and enjoy the music with a hot drink and a slice of cake.
What do we have planned for the end of the year? There is a Christmas market in Newport Arcade on the 6th December 10am until 4pm - we will be performing some Christmas songs so come and check it out. There is also the Corn Exchange Christmas market on Sunday 14th December. It starts at 12:00 and we are kicking off the live music at 12:15. We will be performing our brand new original Christmas songs! It's going to be a lovely event so come along and join in the festive fun. We are also hosting a Christmas Singalong in Arcadia Coffehouse on Monday 22nd December at 7pm to raise money for Feed Newport.
The start of 2026 will be quiet as Rhiannon will be taking some time off to have a baby! We will be back to performing in Spring 2026 so make sure you are following us on Instagram to stay up to date with the latest news. 2025 has been so busy and fun - thank you so much to everyone who has supported us this year. We look forward to seeing what opportunities and experiences 2026 brings us!