Meilyr Jones: International Showcase Fund (SXSW)
To spend any time with Jones is to be struck by his particularity. He is a rare figure: distinct, uncontrived, erudite. In person he has a gentleness and an unashamed intellect; on stage he reveals an exuberance and a ready showmanship.
He presents his potted biography in modest fashion: “I’m 28,” he begins. “From Aberystwyth, by the sea. My Mum’s a nurse and my Dad’s a children’s books author. And I guess I was always into music, at school I joined a band that became Race Horses, and I really enjoyed being in that band. And I went to music college, studied the tuba, dropped out after three years.”
A less humble account might note that the college in question was the Royal Academy of Music, and might also mention Jones’s stint playing bass on tour for Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip’s Neon Neon, as well as his work with Stealing Sheep and for the Cousins project with Euros Childs.
His debut album ‘2013’ was supported by The Open Fund and won the Welsh Music Prize.