Yws Gwynedd is a Welsh rock band from

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

named for its lead singer Ywain Gwynedd.

Career

The band achieved acclaim after their debut album ''

Codi / \ Cysgu Codi Cysgu (''Wake up / \ Sleep'') is the debut album of Welsh singer Yws Gwynedd and his band. The album was released 6 years after the last album of Gwynedd's previous band Frizbee who disbanded in 2008. They had achieved some level of success ...

'' ("''wake-up /\ sleep''" in Welsh) in 2014 which won Best LP at Y Selar music awards that year and was nominated for best Welsh-language album at the

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

in 2015. Their second album was released in 2017 having been recorded in two weeks. It was nominated for the 2017 Welsh-language album of the year award. and won the best album at Y Selar's awards. The band perform regularly at Welsh music events and have headlined festivals such as Tafwyl and Maes B. In 2015 they performed at Festival Number 6 on the Clough stage and returned in 2017. They have performed on

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

and

Radio Cymru BBC Radio Cymru is a Welsh language radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts across Wales on FM, DAB, digital TV and BBC Sounds. The station broadcasts general factual and entertainment pro ...

multiple times. One of the band's guitarists, Ifan Davies, is also the lead singer of the band

Sŵnami Sŵnami () are a Welsh indie rock group from Dolgellau, North Wales, who sing predominantly in Welsh. They won the Welsh Language Album of the Year prize at the 2016 National Eisteddfod of Wales. Their name is a play on the word "tsunami" and th ...

. " Perta" (originally called "Hi yw y Berta"), the Welsh entry for the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the sixteenth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the National State Television and Radio Company of Belarus, Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) and the European Broa ...

, is written by lead singer Ywain. It was chosen internally by S4C and was performed by Manw, the winner of the national final of S4C's '' Chwilio am Seren''. Gwynedd has said that the lyrics were written with a focus on sounding nice to non-Welsh speakers, as well as being easy for viewers to sing along to. In early 2025, Gwynedd was one of the coaches in '' Y Llais'', a Welsh-language version of ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing reality competition television series. Created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, it premiered on BBC One on 24 March 2012. Based on the original Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', and ...

''.

''#40Mawr''

''#40mawr'' is a radio programme and compilation CD of the 40 most popular Welsh-language songs as voted for by listeners of

each year. In 2016 the band's song "Sebona Fi" topped the #40Mawr chart and "Neb ar Ôl" came 35th. The next year "Sebona Fi" and " Drwy dy Lygid Di" featured on the updated list in first and 33rd place respectively.

Discography

Singles

Albums

Compilation albums

References

{{Reflist Welsh-language bands Welsh rock music groups Musical groups established in 2014 2014 establishments in Wales