Folk rock pioneers return to Wales on UK-wide tour
Nation Cymru staff
The UK’s quintessential folk rock act, with a string of hits throughout the 70s and beyond, is set to visit Wales as part of their autumn tour next month.
Kicking off their latest tour this weekend, Steeleye Span are set to take in the Savoy Theatre Monmouth and Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea towards the end of the run of dates in mid-November.
Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior.
The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and were commercially successful in that period, with four Top 40 albums and two hit singles: “Gaudete” and “All Around My Hat”.
Steeleye Span have seen many personnel changes, with Maddy Prior being the only remaining original member of the band. Their musical repertoire consists of mostly traditional songs with one or two instrumental tracks of jigs and/or reels added; the traditional songs often include some of the Child Ballads.
Prior said once: “Steeleye Span is like a bus. It goes along, and people get on and get off it. Sometimes the bus goes along the route you want to go, and sometimes it turns off, so you get off.”
In their later albums there has been an increased tendency to include music written by the band members, but they have never moved completely away from traditional music, which draws upon pan-British traditions.
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Perhaps best known for one song above all others, Steeleye Span had a hit in 1973 with an a cappella recording Gaudete.
Gaudete (Ecclesiastical Latin: [ɡau̯ˈdete]; meaning “rejoice [ye]”) – a sacred Christmas carol, thought to have been composed in the 16th century.
It was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582 in the North German city of Greifswald.
Guitarist Bob Johnson had heard the song when he attended a folk-carol service with his father-in-law in Cambridge, and brought it to the attention of the rest of the band. (Unlike the album version which fades up slowly and fades down slowly, the single is at the same volume for the entire length of the song.) This single is one of only two top 20 British hits to be sung fully in Latin.
In 2025, Steeleye Span toured twice in the UK and released the new studio album Conflict. They continue to tour and promote the new album during 2026 and have tours planned for 2027.
In 2026, Steeleye Span with Maddy Prior can be heard with their song “Twa Corbies” over the closing credits of Amazon Prime’s “Young Sherlock”; Season 1, Episode 2.
Buy tickets for the Savoy Theatre Monmouth performance on Tuesday 10 November here and the Taliesin Arts Centre Swansea performance on Friday 13 November here.
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