Unlocked/Datgloi is an album of 10 songs, created by 10 different communities, working with 5 Live Music Now musicians, over 5 Welsh counties, strengthening connections with their local area through sung stories of local heritage.
I Have A Story was written through discussions with staff and members of Oasis Refugee Centre in Cardiff. The building itself was chosen as a piece of local heritage that now houses a huge programme of community outreach to refugees and asylum seekers coming to Wales, giving life to many through the activities that take place there, a beacon of hope beyond the building itself.
Oasis Cardiff started in a small church room with 3 volunteers - founder Reynette Roberts MBE and 2 Iranian asylum seekers in 2008. They were open just 3 days a week serving tea and coffee with roughly 30 visitors a day, but soon outgrew their premises moving to the YMCA Sports Hall then Tavs Centre before moving to their current location in an old church building in Splott, just outside of Cardiff City Centre where they have been for over 6 years.
Now one of the biggest refugee and asylum seeker support centres in the UK with over 150 visitors each day from around the globe, this includes people from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, El Salvador, and Ivory Coast among many other countries. They encourage integration within the local community and culture but we also learn and share the cultures and traditions their visitors bring with them. Music in particular is a big part of their provision.
Jordan Price Williams is a folk musician from Cardiff who performs as part of Vri, Elfyn and No Good Boyo, mainly on cello, whistle and vocals. He has been part of Live Music Now with the chamber folk group Vri since 2016.
lyrics
I Have A Story
I have for you a story, of people bold and brave
They’re leaving their lands, they’re leaving their homes
to travel across the waves.
I have for you a story, of people strong and proud
they’ve left their homes and found a new land
they’ve weathered the storms so loud.
This land is new and alien, and the ground doesn’t look the same
It’s frightening to be such a long way from home,
but those feelings they will tame.
The system is so daunting, there’s red tape in every square
but of each and every strange building
there is one that’s always there.
When first she stepped through those doors,
she found it all too much but years have passed,
its changed her now, new growth from that caring touch.
These doors are a hidden gateway, to build a brand new life
these walls contain the chance, if only for an hour
for people to escape their strife.
Though their land is far away, they can travel the sea and sky
with every song they sing and with every dance they bring
back to their home they fly.
When you’re cold or lost or hungry,
to your parents you hold out your hand
your mother will feed you, your father will clothe you
there’s a family for you here in this new land.
There are floors, walls and windows,
there’s a roof like every other one
but behind the bricks and stone
happens something much more rare
in each room will rise the sun.
I have for you a story, of people so bold and brave
They left their lands, they left their homes
for a new life, everything they gave.
credits
from Unlocked / Datgloi,
released July 30, 2021
Vocals - Jordan Price Williams
Piano - Patrick Rimes
Violin - Angharad Jenkins
Live Music Now is the UK's leading musicians development and outreach charity, bringing exceptional live music to communities who wouldn't normally be able to access it. www.livemusicnow.org.uk
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