THE serene calm of St Asaph Cathedral will explode into a thunder of sound on Sunday, September 18 when “power-folk” group Calan take to the stage for the North Wales International Music Festival.

This month’s St Asaph live show is the first in a new international tour that will see Calan cross the Atlantic in the coming weeks.

The multi-instrumental band will play at such venues as Charleston, West Virginia (in concert with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra), New York’s World Music Institute and London’s Cecil Sharp House.

“Admittedly, it’s not your usual Sunday service,” said the band’s guitar maestro Sam Humphreys.

“But I’m looking forward to filling what looks to be a beautiful cathedral with sounds and songs - the acoustics will be amazing.”

Calan will be performing music from their latest, critically-acclaimed album, “Kistvaen” along with favourites from their back catalogue.

This year’s Tredegar House Festival described the band as “more than folk, mightier than rock, joyous as the best song you’ve ever heard”.

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Calan’s fiddle player Patrick Rimes added: “Playing at the North Wales International Music Festival – that’s a proper hometown gig for me!

“We’ve clocked up the miles over the years and played some fantastic, exotic venues – but nothing quite compares to performing this music in front of a Welsh audience.”

“Some of our most important pieces come from research into historic and traditional Welsh texts,” said vocalist, accordionist and step-dancer Bethan Rhiannon.

“It’s another reason the St Asaph concert is so important to us. This is the home of the William Morgan Bible, the first to be translated into Welsh.

“It’s a place where you can feel history pulsating through your veins - and we aim to play out of our skins.”

Tickets for Calan live at St Asaph Cathedral on September 18 (as part of the North Wales International Music Festival’s 50th Anniversary) are available now via www.theatrclwyd.com/event/nwimf-calan.