Recording company in North Wales (est. 1969)
Album cover of
Gorau Sain Cyfrol 2
(1987)
Sain
(Welsh for
Audio
,
Welsh pronunciation:
[sa?n]
), in full ?
Sain (Recordiau) Cyf.
(Audio (Records) Ltd) is a
Welsh
record label
, which took part in the Welsh folk revival.
History
[
edit
]
Sain was founded in
Cardiff
in 1969 by singers and songwriters
Dafydd Iwan
and
Huw Jones
[
cy
]
[1]
and businessman
Brian Morgan Edwards
, as a home for Welsh-language rock and folk music, which was otherwise finding it difficult to 'break through' in the UK market. Sain is regarded as being the first Welsh record company to be self-sufficient in terms of independence from other British companies, and laid the foundation for subsequent Welsh labels.
[1]
The company released its first single in October 1969, Huw Jones' "D?r" (Welsh for
Water
), a song about the drowning of the
Tryweryn
Valley, in the north of Wales, to form
Llyn Celyn
reservoir. Many of the company's early releases were recorded at the
Rockfield Studios
in
Monmouthshire
. In the early 1970s Sain moved to the
Caernarfon
area, and opened their first recording studio in 1975 near
Llandwrog
. Musicians who have recorded for the label include
Meic Stevens
,
Geraint Jarman
[1]
and
Bryn Terfel
.
[2]
Current activities
[
edit
]
Today Sain remains the biggest producer of music of Wales, covering traditional, folk, rock, pop, hip-hop, rap, country and classical music.
The label has several subsidiaries including Crai, which was founded in 1988 and has released music by
Yr Anhrefn
,
Mike Peters
and
Big Leaves
, as well as a series of
Crai Tecno
compilations featuring Welsh
dance music
artists.
[1]
[3]
Rasal Cyf. is the latest label, and this signs young Welsh bands.
Maartin Allcock
has produced many Sain albums. The label's Chief Executive is Dafydd Roberts, the harp and flute player of the folk band
Ar Log
.
[4]
[5]
In 2017 Sain released over 7,000 audio clips and 498 album covers under a
Creative Commons licence
. These are available on
Wikimedia Commons
.
[6]
Branch labels
[
edit
]
- Sain ? main label
- Crai ? mainstream rock label
- Rasal ? pop/indie label for young talents
- Slic ?
library music
label
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Hill, Sarah (2007)
Blerwytirhwng?` the
Place of Welsh Pop Music
, Ashgate,
ISBN
978-0-7546-5898-6
, p. 63, 87, 134
- ^
Terfel, Bryn; Martineau, Martin.
Schwanengesang
(CD)
. Sain. SCD 4035.
Album cover at
Schwanengesang, album cover.jpg
.
- ^
Parker, Mike & Whitfield, Paul (2003)
The Rough Guide to Wales
, Rough Guides,
ISBN
978-1-84353-120-3
, p. 584
- ^
"
Nashville star records Welsh hymn
",
BBC
, 27 March 2006, retrieved 2011-01-22
- ^
"Sain : The Company's History"
.
Sain
. Retrieved
24 July
2018
.
- ^
"Wikimedia Commons / Sain (Records)"
.
National Library of Wales
. Retrieved
1 July
2017
.
External links
[
edit
]