CrossRoads is a collaboration between Breton violinist/bombardist Padrig Sicard, piper/flautist Yann Cariou with Llew and Mara Kiek adding bozouki, guitar, baglama, voice, tapan and percussion, with bassists Bruno Le Bris and Steve Elphick touring with the group in Europe and Australia respectively.

History

Padrig Sicard and Llew and Mara Kiek met at the Belfast Folk Festival (Northern Ireland) in 1984 during Mara!'s first European tour. 13 years later, after several Mara! tours to France, the 3 recorded ideas, tunes and fragments and mail-traded cassettes and scores until, in 1998, Padrig brought Yann with him to Sydney where CrossRoads began their first Australian concert tour. After key performances at the Brunswick Music Festival in Melbourne and the National Folk Festival in Canberra, CrossRoads recorded a broadcast with Paul Petran for ABC's Music Deli at Melbourne's South Bank studios.

With Steve Elphick in Sydney, bed tracks were recorded which became the basis of CrossRoads first CD. Extra tracks were recorded in Quimper after the Mara! European tour of 1999. In September 99 Padrig and Llew did the final mix in Quimper, and launched "De Partir C'est Mon Plaisir" (pictured) in France in summer 2000 during CrossRoads Breton tour. The CD was released in Australia in 2001 to coincide with CrossRoads 2nd Australian tour, where the band returned to Canberra's National, and performed at the Melbourne Museum, La Boite, University of Western Sydney and The Harp in Sydney.

CrossRoads toured in Europe in 2001 and 2002 with performances at  Leuven Festival (Belgium), and in Brittany at Lorient Interceltique, Le Festival des Filets Bleus at Concarneau Harbour, Quimper Festival and several Breton regional summer festivals.

In 2006, CrossRoads performed at the Grand Theatre and the Australian Pavilion at the Lorient Interceltique Festival as special guests of Lorient's "Year of Australia".

CDs from CrossRoads

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