VENUE Cymru will be filled with the sounds of male voice choir when Only Men Loud return later this year.
Following two acclaimed sell out tours in 2009 and hot on the heels of picking up a Classical Brit award, the winners of BBC hit show Last Choir Standing have announced they are hitting the road once more to bring a special Christmas show to Llandudno.
The Pioneer caught up with choir member Wyn Davies to talk about their visit to North Wales.
"As a choir we obviously love coming to Llandudno. It's just a shame we don't get to perform there more often," said Wyn. "We've been there on two occasions and had a fantastic response. And Venue Cymru is a fantastic venue.
"This show is going to be a collection of our festive Christmas repertoire to get people looking forward to Christmas. But we'll also have material from both albums."
After a phenomenal response to their debut release, the second offering titled Band Of Brothers helped Only Men Aloud take Album of The Year category at the Classical Brit Awards earlier this month - a welcomed coup for the group.
"It's unbelievable the response from the public who listen to us," gushed Wyn. "It went to classical number one spot for three weeks. This [Classical Brit] award is another public voted award. It's great to know we have support out there."
The popularity of the accomplished choir comes from their penchant for meddling in the genres, with an eclectic mix of tracks under their belt ranging from Ar Lan Y Mor and Drunken Sailor to Total Eclipse Of The Heart and Somebody To Love.
"As long as its a good piece of music you can do anything," confirmed Wyn. "Festive tunes, Robbie Williams, showtunes, classical music. It's about making music more accessible. You have to allow for everyone's tastes."
It is this approach to music which has seen the domestically established choral group make waves on the other side of the pond in the USA; where the reaction to the Welsh singers has been positive.
"We've been out there three times - New York twice and Washington as well [and] we had an unbelievable response - in some ways the response has been even stronger than here. There are a lot of ex-pats or people who have roots in Wales [so] if you come over with a male voice choir it's always successful. It's a really different brand of performance. It's gone down an absolute treat."
Their popularity has grown to the extent that a special show recorded at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff will be broadcast on PBS (public Service Broadcasting) in August ahead of an American coast to coast tour.
But Only Men Aloud have not forgotten about their UK following.
"We've launched a scheme Only Boys Aloud across South Wales which is taking a lot of our time. We're doing as much as we possible can to get young guys involved in choir music.
"Only Boys Aloud is something we're really passionate about getting 14-19 year olds singing to carry on the fantastic tradition and inject some young blood into choral music."
With interest in Only Men Aloud growing each day, and a plethora of performances, recordings and tours to balance; what's next for the choir?
"We have recorded two albums to date and have a five album record deal, so there's still three to go.," said Wyn. "But we'll just carry on performing and getting people to enjoy the music. There's nothing like performing live - it's our bread and butter."
-
Only Men Aloud will be performing live at Venue Cymru in Llandudno on December 11. For more information or to book tickets contact the Box Office on 01492 872000 or visit the website at www.venuecymru.co.uk