Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog are a three piece band consisting of brothers from Rhos Botwnnog, between the villages of Botwnnog and Llaniestyn in the Llyn Peninsula, North Wales. They experiment with country, folk and rock music. The three brothers, Iwan Hughes, Aled Hughes and Dafydd Hughes formed the band in 2006 and got a fair amount of attention from the Welsh language music scene through an early appearance on S4C's music programme 'Bandit'. BBC Radio Cymru's C2 programme also regularly aired demo's that the band had recorded. By the time they had released their debut album; 'Dawns Y Trychfilod' ('The dance of the insects') on the Sbrigyn Ymborth label in 2007, they had already developed a good following and were regularly appearing on stage with some of Wales's most well known acts. The album was produced by Dyl Mei and recorded at the producer's Blaen y Cae studio, which is now closed. The band launched it with a headlining tour throughout Wales. The album reached the number 1 slot for numerous weeks on the C2 chart. In 2008, the band worked to create a different sound, deciding to concentrate more on the country aspect of their music. They co-worked with singer-songwriter Gwyneth Glyn and pedal steel player Euron "Jos" Jones and released the single 'Paid a Deud', also on the Sbrigyn Ymborth label. The title track is a re-working of a traditional Welsh folk song. Summer 2009 saw Llyr Pari of labelmates Jen Jeniro join the band as an additional live guitarist, and played at their biggest summer appearances at the Wakestock festival and Maes B at the Eisteddfod. 2010 was a quieter year for the band in terms of live performances as they concentrated on writing new material. Over the summer a version of Neil Young's Cortez The Killer crept into the set. The band played the opening Sunday of the Royal Welsh's Young People's Village and the final Saturday of the National Eisteddfod's Maes B. The band were subject to a profile in North Wales and Liverpool's Daily Post newspaper in September 2010, in which Ian Hughes described the band as producing " a sound so independent and divorced from music lazily being made by a lot of other new groups." The band entered Bryn Derwen studio with producer and engineer Dave Wrench in September 2010. Once again, Branwen "Sbrings" Williams, who had provided backing vocals on 'Dawns y Trychfilod' and Euron "Jos" Jones were in tow, as well as Llyr "Tonto" Pari, who had regularly been playing live with the brothers. The resulting album, Dyddiau Du, Dyddiau Gwyn was released in December of that year and garnered widespread acclaim and airplay. Third album Draw Dros y Mynydd was released in summer 2012 and was shortlisted for the Welsh Music Prize 2012. Members edit: Iwan Glyn Hughes - Vocals, electric & acoustic guitar, keyboards, harmonica, banjo, bass guitar, Dafydd Rhys Hughes - Vocals, drums & percussion, Aled Wyn Hughes - Vocals, bass guitar, electric & acoustic guitar, vocoder, cosmic banjo, Llyr "Tonto" Pari - Electric guitar, bass guitar, Branwen "Sbrings" Williams - Vocals, organ, Euron "Jos" Jones - Pedal steel guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, Osian Huw Williams - Vocals, electric guitar, bass guitar, percussion, Collaborators & Additional members edit: Gwyneth Glyn - Vocals, electric & acoustic guitar (studio & live), Fflur Scott - Vocals (studio), Delyth Badder - Hammond Organ (live), Sion Glyn - Bass guitar (live), Lleuwen Steffan - Vocals (live), Manon Steffan Ros - Vocals (live), Karen Owen - Lyrics (studio), David Wrench - Sound effects (studio), Louis Wrench - Percussion (studio), Georgia Ruth - Vocals (live)

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