Heartfelt sounds of soulful star

Welsh singing star Cerys Matthews was in Shropshire for the last but one date on her current tour promoting her new album Don't Look Down.

Playing in the intimate venue of Ludlow Assembly Rooms last night, she took the audience on a musical journey through her years in Catatonia, her time in Nashville and brought them bang up to date with tracks from her latest release.

In a characteristically beautiful and heartfelt performance, she en-gaged with the 350-strong crowd both during and in between songs, with anecdotes about recording albums in American shacks.

She described working with Bucky Baxter, a former bandmate of Bob Dylan, who had managed to scrounge recording equipment from Studio B in Nashville, as used by Elvis Presley himself.

Rhythm

She was provided with stirling support by her co-writer on the new album, Mason Neely and by Kevin Teel, who both played a variety of instruments.

She particularly praised Neely saying she'd gone through 21 drummers in three years before finding him.

She said: "It doesn't matter if you're not a brilliant lyric or melody writer, as long as you've got a good rhythm section."

Catatonia fans would have recognised two of the earlier tracks, which included an unfamiliar rendition of Road Rage and the song Strange Glue embedded in an Irish folk song.

The evening included a range of tracks from her previous solo albums Cock-a-hoop and Never Said Goodbye.

She closed with the latest single, Arlington Way, before returning to great applause for an encore.

Audience members were complimentary after the show. Tiana Cullen said: "I never tire of listening to Cerys's voice, which is unique and soulful."

Joanna Kostrzewska said: "Cerys has got a glow about her when she's on stage. She was really bubbly and came across really well."

Don't Look Down, which was also released in Welsh as Paid Edrych I Lawr, is available now.

By Hannah Costigan