Episode 82: Cerys Matthews

<p>Cerys Matthews is a Welsh singer, presenter and writer.&nbsp;I first became aware of her when I was starting out with my first band Theaudience.&nbsp;She was then with her band Catatonia, which was big&nbsp;- and part of the Cool Cymru trend.&nbsp;After Cerys left that band she went on a voyage of musical discovery while living in a cabin in the woods near Tennessee - an experience she draws on to this day when curating her radio shows.&nbsp;Her excellent 6Music show is a big part of our Sundays.&nbsp;We love it.</p><br><p>I spoke to Cerys at the beginning of December when she had just launched her new children's book.&nbsp;It's a bite-size take on Dylan Thomas's 'Under Milkwood', which she wants to bring to a new audience, namely little children.</p><br><p>Cerys's&nbsp;three children are teenagers now,&nbsp;and we talked about mothering in the teen years, compared to the full-on baby and toddler years, which led her to share her story of her worst ever parenting&nbsp;experience... on a long-haul flight.</p><br><p>Cerys talked about coming back to the&nbsp;UK form America, to bring her children up.&nbsp;She said it took her&nbsp;6 years in America to appreciate&nbsp;Britain, including the BBC.</p><br><p>As it was early December, we mused on how we all try and create the perfect Christmas Day, based on family traditions started in Christmases past.&nbsp;We agreed we can't be all things to all people at all times - and Cerys said that next time she's coming back as a man...with a&nbsp;wife!&nbsp;</p><br><p>Cerys also shared that she's not drawn to beach&nbsp;holidays but loves an adventure, and she told me about her life-changing trip to Everest base camp which she, her husband and her two youngest boys did 3 years ago, to celebrate her 50th birthday.&nbsp;Her enthusiasm for it was so infectious I'm going to look into it myself, especially&nbsp;as a) she said the children loved it - and b) it sounded like it involved lots of stops for chips!</p><br><p>Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced