Andar al guieldu

The name Guieldu comes from a traditional expression used in central-western Asturias: “dir al guieldu” (or “tar al guieldu”) means going into the woods and gathering, along paths and common land, chestnuts that have fallen from trees growing on privately owned land.

Guieldu en el Interceltico de Sendim en 2022

The expression is also a metaphor for the band itself: gathering the musical heritage of Asturias and of the other Celtic nations along the Atlantic arc, and transforming it into a contemporary and personal musical language.

From this idea, Guieldu was born: an Asturian Celtic music band formed in Avilés in 2019 by flautist and composer Héctor Aneiros. Although the pandemic brought the project’s first steps to a halt, by 2022 the band was ready to take its music to the stage and into the recording studio.

To understand Guieldu, it is important to place the band within the wider Celtic musical movement that has brought together the Celtic nations through music, with artists such as Alan Stivell, Dan ar Braz and Carlos Núñez among its leading figures. Guieldu’s inspiration also reaches back to the Celtic revival of the nineteenth century — that vision of the Celtic world shaped by nature, mist, ancient ruins and mythology, creating an imaginative landscape that Guieldu translates into sound.

Within that tradition, Guieldu has developed a voice of its own: rooted in the Celtic musical world, but looking beyond its familiar clichés to create something contemporary, personal and distinctly Asturian.

Born in troubled times

The pandemic and the lockdowns of 2020 brought the band’s activity to a halt just as it was getting started. Rehearsals were repeatedly interrupted, making it difficult not only to develop the repertoire but also to maintain a stable line-up.

After these difficult beginnings, the line-up that would take Guieldu to the stage gradually came together during 2021: seven musicians from Asturias and León, coming from very different musical backgrounds — traditional music, classical music, metal, world music and, of course, folk: Susana Sors, Jorge Álvarez, Laura Méndez, Pablo Santamarta, Héctor Aneiros, Celia Nieto and Gabriel Catalán. This was the line-up with which Guieldu began its live journey, before the changes that would eventually lead to the current formation.

Entrevista a Guieldu en el Anuariu de la Música Asturiana.

Towards the end of that same year, with the repertoire still taking shape, the band recorded its first single, “L’Aremu”, entirely independently and using its own equipment and resources. Released in February 2022, it was warmly received by both critics and audiences familiar with the folk and Celtic music scene.

By the summer of 2022, the repertoire was ready and the first live performances followed. Guieldu began at the Intercélticu d’Avilés, its first opportunity to perform in its home city, followed by the Interceltic Festival of Sendim in Portugal and the Interceltic Festival of Western Asturias.

Staying the course

Celia left the band to focus on her studies, and shortly afterwards Gabriel also brought his time with the group to an end. After a brief spell with Olaya Pérez on violin, violinist Carmen Tomé and drummer Rubén Cadenas joined the band, bringing the stability the line-up needed. They have been part of Guieldu ever since.

What followed was a period of growing recognition. Winning the AMAS Award for Best Folk Song for “L’Aremu” marked the beginning of a run of important milestones. The following year, the band’s second single, “Perdayuri” — recorded at Estudios 15:40 under the technical direction of Luis Senén — won the award again. Guieldu was also a finalist in the Runas competition at the Festival do Mundo Celta de Ortigueira, where the band performed on the festival’s main stage. That summer, Guieldu also appeared at Sierra Celta in Cortegana, sharing the bill with Scottish band Wolfstone.

Festival Internacional Reinu de Llión. Actuación de Guieldu en 2024

Guieldu. Album Memories de Deva en forma CD. A la vista el libreto del dico.

The horizon widens

Guieldu entered this new chapter with a significant milestone: in March 2024, the band gave its first ticketed concert at the Teatro San Francisco in León, selling out the venue. That summer, Guieldu performed at the 40th Noite Celta de Porcía, Asturias’s longest-running Celtic festival, where the band shared a stage for the first time with Llan de Cubel, one of the historic names in Asturian Celtic music. The two bands would meet again the following year at the Nueche Celta d’Ayer. In September, Guieldu topped the bill at the 17th Festival Celta Internacional Reinu de Llión.

After three years of work, Guieldu released its first full-length album, Memories de Deva, in April 2025, featuring fourteen tracks. It had been a demanding process on three fronts: the compositional complexity of the music, the amount of rehearsal required to perform it, and the challenge of bringing seven musicians together in the studio, alongside several guest musicians. Shortly afterwards, the band officially presented the album live at La Folixa na Primavera in Mieres.

That same year, Guieldu performed at Folkomillas in Cantabria, another leading name among the folk festivals of northern Spain, before reaching the biggest international milestone in the band’s career so far: Guieldu was selected to perform at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in France, the world’s leading Celtic music festival, as part of the Asturian delegation. Further highlights followed, including the Festival Arcu Atlánticu in Xixón, Nueche Celta d’Ayer in Soto de Aller and Cachu Fest in Trabáu (Degaña), where the band paid tribute to the recently deceased Rosa Cunqueira.

In July 2026, Guieldu returned to France for its second appearance there, this time at Les Roches Celtiques in Saint-Étienne, sharing the bill with Austrian band Celtica – Pipes Rock! and Italian band Jimmy & Scots Folk Band.