Catrin O'Neill

Catrin O'Neill

Catrin O'Neill is a Welsh folk singer and multi-instrumental performer with roots in Southern Snowdonia and later a base in the Vale of Glamorgan. She grows up beside the sea in south Wales, where traditional Welsh music and culture shape her early musical life. Her grandmother, known as Nain, is one of the first people to introduce her to folk songs, often sung in the kitchen over tea.

Background and influences

Her work is rooted in Welsh music, but her style also reflects Irish ancestry and an interest in Breton dance music. She describes Welsh folk as a tradition that is often overlooked, and sees it as a music of harmonies and poetic tradition. In performance, she moves between Welsh airs and Irish drinking songs, and she accompanies herself with bodhrán as well as guitar.

Travels and musical development

Before settling back in Wales, she spends five years travelling. During that period she produces children's cabaret shows in China and works as a chorus line dancer in the Indian film industry. After returning home, she continues her musical exploration while remaining closely connected to Welsh folk traditions.

Recording and performance

Her first album, Nain’s Kitchen / Cegin Nain, is released commercially in December 2009. She performs both solo and in larger settings, including as a duo and as part of a four-piece line-up featuring harp, two fiddles, bouzouki, pipes and whistle. Her performance style is noted for humour and storytelling, with attention to transporting audiences through past and present subjects.

Style and repertoire

Her singing includes haunting Welsh-language airs as well as more raucous Irish songs. Her approach combines folk material with narrative delivery, and her style is described as comparable to a female Rory McLeod.