Cardiff group takes Blŵgras from Wales to the world stage

Stephen Price

Cardiff-based bluegrass band Taff Rapids, who sing in both Welsh and English, began with a mission to spread their passion for the genre to Wales’ capital city.

The band are growing in both acclaim and popularity, and are gearing up to release their debut album at a sold out Acapela in Pentyrch, on St Davids Day.

Comprised of seasoned musicians Darren Eedens, Siôn Russell Jones, David Grubb, and Clem Saynor, Taff Rapids combine the traditions of Welsh and Bluegrass music, singing in Welsh and English – having branded it as Blŵgras, their own unique take on the transatlantic style.

Because of this, they not only have created a following in Cardiff, they have gone to perform at the International Bluegrass Music Association festival in Raleigh North Carolina, and have played Bluegrass La Roche in France – the largest European Bluegrass festival.

Flying the flag

The band has also toured in Ontario, Canada, and are heading to Folk Alliance International in Montreal Canada, with multiple European tours confirmed as well as Rotterdam Bluegrass NL, Buhl Bluegrass DE and Festival Lorient Interceltique in France – the largest Celtic Festival in the world.

With gigs across the world, the band haven’t, however, forgotten where it all starter, with a monthly residency at Tiny Rebel on Womanby street, playing Stringband Sundays every third Sunday of the month.

With Welsh bluegrass firmly on the map, the band are also thrilled to see the Welsh flag flying, and more people sitting up and taking notice of the Welsh language.

We caught up with the band to find out more as they prepare to unleash their debut album on the world.

So how did the band form?

David Grubb (fiddle) and I (Darren Eedens, banjo) had been playing together for a couple years, after I had met him at an Americana jam that I was hosting.

I am originally from Canada, I really wanted to hear more bluegrass around like I would back home, and though we were playing country style stuff, it wasn’t scratching the itch.

When I lived in Toronto, I would frequent bluegrass gigs and a bluegrass brunch, I thought this was something Cardiff needed.

We needed a guitar player, though I knew Sion Russell Jones through the music scene here, I didn’t know he was into the style as well.

So a trusty Facebook post brought us together to start working on some tunes. Last but not least, as we prepared to finalise our album and truly take the show on the road, Clem Saynor (bass) came recommended and slotted right into the project, completing the sound both instrumentally and vocally.

The intention was always to have a bit of fun playing traditional tunes in the corner of a pub while people ate eggs and bacon. So after a few jams we started gigging right away, which gave us a chance to practice live every week.

You took part in Brunches at Bubs – where are you playing now that’s no more?

We were very fortunate to have Bubs for our Bubsgrass Brunch, we cut our teeth there thanks to our friend Chelsea giving us a chance, and trying this crazy idea.

We didn’t expect people to be so into it, but we learned very quickly that people who like bluegrass will travel to see it, so the show grew and grew.

We built up quite a repertoire of songs and tunes, playing 3 sets every week, so once covid hit, and inevitably the bar closed, we needed to keep it going in some form.

That is when we started our new monthly show, every third Sunday of the month, from 7-9 we play at Tiny Rebel on Womanby Street Cardiff.

It’s been a great one for bluegrass lovers, and those just discovering it alike. And anytime we are unavailable, we get another bluegrass band in to perform from around the UK, keeping it fresh for folks who support the music.

Bluegrass isn’t widely played on the airwaves in the UK – how did you come to get interested in the genre?


Personally, I grew up getting more and more into Americana and Country from my grandparents, and always felt the drive of bluegrass. I was given a banjo, and that really lead me down the rabbit hole.

I think we all came into it in our own ways, but one thing that can be certain, the musicianship of modern bluegrass is truly awe inspiring.

I think there is a level of speed, accuracy, improv and rhythm that any musician latches on to in bluegrass, and in a pursuit to better ourselves I think this band has driven us further and further into learning more about the genre, history and players.

There is a lot of crossover between the styles, with celtic fiddle tunes really being one of the big things that helped form bluegrass – many of the tracks are very transatlantic and share a lot of similarities. We have latched on to this idea and see us as bringing two old friends back together.

I think this gave us an interesting way of making the genre our own and growing, we are Welsh, English, Scottish, and Canadian – all coming to the genre from different backgrounds and influences, all bringing new tunes and ideas to the table.

You truly make Bluegrass Welsh and sing in Cymraeg – was this a natural decision?

This did happen quite naturally, though I am not sure we expected it to work so well. It was a bit of a combination of giving a bluegrass twist to old Welsh Traditional pieces, and writing Welsh lyrics to our own songs.

Sion being Welsh language was the first to come up with an idea for a melody Dave had written, which became our first Welsh single released mid 2024 – Honco Monco.

As we started building up our set, and giving tunes our own spin we started incorporating the Welsh language, we knew we had a special side to this project, and soon after we took on the term BLŴGRAS as our description of genre.

Just like bluegrass, but a bit more Welsh and a bit more our own.

What’s the feedback been like so far?


It’s been surprising to say the least, we’ve all worked hard as musicians throughout our lives… but this has had people drawn in almost from its inception it seems.

We can’t believe how many people are coming out to gigs, the festivals we are being asked to attend and the positive response we have had.

It’s been absolutely exciting to bring our music abroad, and people come up to us talking about Wales, the genre or already knowing our songs. All this before the album is even out!

Tell us about your album due for release on the most Welsh of calendar dates, St David’s Day?

We are in a fortunate position where everyone is a writer in the band, so it is truly a collaboration.

We all bring our ideas to the table, in varying forms of completion and add our own touch and ideas to create songs on the album.

We all play and sing our own parts, with nothing extra really – we wanted to keep the clean lines and raw style of bluegrass. So we recording all our instrumentation together and overdubbed our harmonies and lead vocals.

We’ve all written and performed in such a range of styles from jazz to country, pop to Scottish folk, indie rock and classical – I think once we started to let our guard down, all these things came together in a way that really created a variety in the sound of our music – whilst keeping it bluegrass.

The album coming out on Dydd Gŵyl Dewi just seemed right, and we are very lucky that Acapala in Pentyrch gave us the chance to put on our launch show there.

The response has had us excited, surprised and grateful – as the show has sold out weeks in advance!

We have two singles out from the album so far, and people are able to preorder “BLŴGRAS” via our bandcamp now.

The list of places you’ve performed is astonishing – Interceltique festival to the home of Bluegrass itself – how has the reception been from such wide audiences, especially ones who probably aren’t expecting Welsh folk to rock up?

I think its been quite wild to see the response to our brand of bluegrass, I think the Welsh language element has really brought Welsh speakers to our music.

People love Wales and they Iove bluegrass, so bringing those two things together has been a lot of fun, and I think people attach to it.

Particularly when we have taken something traditional slow like Dacw ‘Nghariad, and turned it into an upbeat singalong with fiddle/ banjo solos and barn burning – everyone knows the words, but they’ve never heard it like we do it.

I also think it has shown a lot of people here what bluegrass is, we often have people who have stumbled across our residency, who stay for the whole show – and have never heard a banjo tune before.

It was almost a bit of a shock when we got invited to the International Bluegrass Music Association Conference in Raleigh North Carolina, and we had a lot of thoughts running through our heads that maybe we wouldn’t be taken in well.

I think this stems from the amount of tradition and songs that people hold dear, and here we were rocking up with our own stuff let alone sung in a different language.

But the response after our first set put our minds at ease in a huge way!

People were eager to talk to us about their heritage and that they appreciated what we were doing; they loved the fact we had songs sung in Welsh – because people in America love to tell ya about their Family from the UK!

With our sort of beginning, we have this strong support, our fans seem to be just as excited for our travels as we are … and they show great support sporting BLŴGRAS T-shirts, and spreading the word.

We have literally shown up to play a bar in Canada, and we have groups of Welsh people come out because their family in Wales has told them to come!

Bluegrass has archetypal sounds and instruments – do you play the instruments expected of the genre or go rogue?

We have stuck to very bluegrass instruments, really only missing a mandolin to get the full bluegrass ensemble.

Since starting the band, I know we have all seen it as a way to honour tradition but also push ourselves, so we have been studying and learning from old recordings and current musicians who are pushing the boundaries. We are always pushing to excel and make the next song better than the last.

One of the best things about bluegrass is you can hear the same song 100 times by 100 people, and you’ve heard 100 different takes on the idea. So there is never a shortage of idea and inspiration.

After we were invited to the International Bluegrass Music Association conference in Raleigh North Carolina, we all had a real fire in our belly to excel and honour the music.

Once the nerves were cleared up upon our arrival, we really soaked it all in to strive to be our best individually and as a band.

Pre-order BLŴGRAS via Bandcamp now.

Find out more about Taff Rapids here. and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.