Bard of Ely  

I come from Wales but now live in Tenerife in the Canary Islands where I work as a writer. I am known as Bard of Ely because I used to live in Ely, Cardiff and am a singer-songwriter and poet. When I was a columnist for Big Issue magazine in 1998 they gave me the title. As a performer I have played Glastonbury Festival and was the compere there in 2003 and 2004 for the Avalon Stage. I had two of my songs released on Crai Records on the Taffia EP and a rave review in NME. I also played and was an MC at the Green Man Festival and have two songs on the Green Man Festival CD album. I am the author of Herbs of the Northern Shaman (Loompanics, 2000) and have a forthcoming book of poetry and lyrics - The Bard Word - to be published by Triad. I have written for Permaculture magazine, Big Issue Cymru, Living Tenerife magazine and the Tenerife Sun newspaper, and am currently contributing to Tenerife News and Prediction magazine. In 1998 I was co-presenter of two series of a TV magazine entitled In Full View on BBC Choice, and I have also appeared on many other television shows, as a musician, a guest speaker and as an actor. I am also written about in some depth in the following books: Fierce Dancing (Faber & Faber) and Last of the Hippies (Faber & Faber) by CJ Stone, in The Trials of Arthur (Element) by Christopher James Stone and Arthur Pendragon, in Real Cardiff (Seren) by Peter Finch and in The World's Most Mysterious People (Hounslow) by Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe.