The Trials of Cato: Gig dates in Wales for the 'Sex Pistols of folk'
A band whose name is on everyone’s lips, The Trials of Cato can bee seen playing dates across Wales during the coming weeks.
With two members from Wales and one from Yorkshire, the remarkable rise of the award winning trio on the UK folk-scene has recently been the subject of massive critical attention. Dubbed 'The Sex Pistols of folk', they pay clear homage to the tradition whilst twisting old bones into something febrile and modern, with stomping tunes and captivating stories.
Formed in Beirut, the band returned to the UK in 2016 and set to performing tirelessly up and down the country, leading to BBC Radio 2’s Mark Radcliffe hailing them as “one of the real discoveries on the folk circuit in recent times". Their debut album, Hide and Hair, gained attention in national publications, receives repeated national airplay on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, and won Best Album at the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Following a year of wall-to-wall touring across the UK, Europe, and North America in 2019, the band’s march was halted by the live silence of the global pandemic. Now, they emerge from their chrysalis transformed. As ever, The Trials continue – but now multi-talented instrumentalist and singer Polly Bolton has joined their ranks.
The Trials of Cato are recently back from America where they recorded their hotly-anticipated second album that is scheduled for release later this year. Entitled Gog Magog, the album is named both after the mythical giant of Arthurian legend and the Cambridgeshire hilltop, where the new album was birthed over lockdown.
The forthcoming dates in Wales are:
March 5
Acapela Studio
Cardiff
March 10
Cabaret Pontio
Bangor
March 11
Theatr Mwldan
Cardigan
March 12
The Grand Pavilion
Llandrindod Wells
April 20
Aberystwyth Arts
Aberystwyth