Born and raised in the small village of Llangristiolus in the heart of the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) off the North Wales coast, singer-songwriter Meinir Gwilym has established herself as one of the best selling Welsh language artists ever. Her first release Smôcs, Coffi a Fodca Rhad (Cigarrettes, Coffee and Cheap Vodka) in 2002 was greeted with phenomenal response with her unique voice and punchy lyrics, Celtic/acoustic/folk-rock/pop being hailed as one of the most original and inspired compilations to come out of Wales in years. The follow-up album Dim ond Clwydda (Nothing but Lies) sold thousands within the first few months of release in November 2003. Meinir Gwilym has appeared at all major festivals in Wales, including Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau, Maes B, The Royal Welsh Show and Bryn Terfel’s Faenol Festival 2003, and performs either with her multicultural band in larger venues or on her own, acoustically at small events. Having completed her degree in Welsh Literature and Philosophy in the summer of 2004, Meinir was able to focus purely on her music. With her no-gimmicks image, she is inspired by everyday life, locally and worldwide and composes all her own songs. In the past year she has also been making inroads to the European market with successful gigs in several European capitals. On March the 3rd 2005, a special one hour programme following Meinir for a year was broadcast on S4C, which included a behind the scenes visit to Yamaha by whom she is endorsed. Meinir describes her official endorsment by Yamaha as one of the pinnacles of her career so far. Meinir’s third CD, the album called Sgandal Fain (skinny rumour) was released on 28th November 2005. She describes it as an album of two halves “the major and the minor”. During 2006 and 2007 Meinir concentrated on writing and composing between performances, appearances, presenting radio shows for BBC radio, presenting the music series ‘Noson chis a Meinir’ on television and quite a few school tours too. Meinir has now moved to present radio shows on Champion 103 every weekend, with a varied show on Saturday 12 – 3pm and a request show on Sundays from 12 til 4pm. December 2008 is an exciting time this year. Meinir’s new album, Tombola is released during this month. The 11 track album will be the first release from Meinir in three years, and is made even more special by Bryn Terfel’s appearance on two tracks. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.