is a  collaboration between Breton musicians Padrig Sicard and Yann Cariou and Llew and Mara, with bassists Bruno Le Bris and Steve Elphick. 

Breton musician Padrig Sicard met Llew and Mara at the Belfast Folk Festival in 1984 during Mara!'s first European tour. Padrig booked Breton dates for Mara! later in that year and there were lots of wonderful jam sessions, and the the idea of  Llew, Mara and Padrig working together was born. Despite several Mara! tours to France,  it was not 13 years later  that the 3 recorded ideas, tunes and fragments on cassette - choosing the initial repertoire. For a year they mail-traded cassettes and scores until, in 1998, Padrig brought Yann with him to Sydney where Crossroads began their first Australian concert tour with performances at the Brunswick Music Festival  in Melbourne, then Wollongong, Sydney, and the National Folk Festival in Canberra. Paul Petran of ABC's Music Deli recorded  Brunswick and at ABC'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, and in Sydney later in the year. In September 99 Padrig and Llew did the final mix in Quimper , and it was mastered in Sydney in 2000 and launched in France in summer 2000 during Crossroads short Breton tour. The CD was released in Australia in 2001 to coincide with Crossroads 2nd  Australian tour  

Above - on stage at Concarneau 2002 with bassist  Bruno Le Bris. Pic: Bruno Leone./ Below -  Padrig, Llew, Mara and Yann  in  Quimper, France 1999, during recording of the Crossroads CD "De Partir C'est Mon Plaisir"

In 2006, Crossroads performed at the Grand Theatre and the Australian Pavilion at the Lorient Interceltique Festival in France as part of "Australian Focus".

 In  2001 and 2002 Crossroads performances included  Lorient Interceltique (the giant "cabaret" venue) , Le Festival des Filets Bleus at Concarneau Harbour, Leuven Festival (Belgium), Quimper Festival (with a week of concerts and workshops at various venues around the city including the beautiful medieval Place au Beurre) and several Breton regional summer festivals. 

A highlight of the 2000 tour was Mara's guest performance with Bagad Concarneau, directed by Yann, at the Lorient Interceltique Festival. The group won 3 prizes in their division in the Bagad Competition there!

Right: Bagad Concarneau perform at La Ville Close, Concarneau, the day before their  triumphant win at Lorient Interceltic Festival August 2000 - Mara, Padrig and Yann in the foreground (Domi Sicard.)

 

Below:  Padrig and Llew winning the duet competition held at the Quimper  festival 2002. (Tony Kiek)

In 2001 Crossroads toured in Australia for the second time, with a music workshop at the University of Western Sydney,  and concerts at  La Boite in Melbourne,  Melbourne Museum,  Bathurst Folk Club ( Mount Panorama Restaurant) and the Harp, Sydney,  and concerts and dance workshops at the National Folk Festival, Canberra.