Folk Awards to be hosted by Celtic Connections

SOME of Scotland’s top musicians will be sharing the limelight when a leading industry awards ceremony is held north of the border for the first time next week.

SOME of Scotland’s top musicians will be sharing the limelight when a leading industry awards ceremony is held north of the border for the first time next week.

Celtic Connections will be hosting the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow on 30 January.

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Singer-songwriters Karine Polwart and Dougie MacLean, and highly-rated groups Lau and Treacherous Orchestra, will be among those performing live at the event.

American folk country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter and veteran English singers Billy Bragg and Roy Harper are also on the bill of acts who will be performing on the night.

Polwart, Lau and Treacherous Orchestra are all in the running for awards at the ceremony, while Ross Ainslie, a member of the latter outfit, is a contender for musician of the year.

Polwart is in the running for folk singer of the year, up against Nic Jones, Sam Lee and Jim Moray, and has also been nominated in the best original song category.

Polwart and Lau are up against each other for best album, competing with Jim Moray, Sam Lee and Bellowhead, while Lau and Treacherous Orchestra will contest the best group category, along with Bellowhead and The Unthanks.

Highland fiddler Duncan Chisholm and Kathleen MacInnes, a Gaelic singer from South Uist, will be competing in the traditional track category, with Chisholm also in with a chance of being named musician of the year.

Glasgow band Rura are in the running for the Horizon Award, which is awarded to a top-rated rising act in the industry.

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Tickets, priced £15 and £20, are still available for the event, which is part of the BBC’s biggest ever series of live concerts from the festival.

Broadcaster Mark Radcliffe and renowned Hebridean Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis will be jointly hosting the event, which is being held for the 14th time. It will be broadcast live on television on the night on the BBC Red Button service, as well as on Radio 2 itself.

James Taylor, Nanci Griffith, Laura Marling and Don McLean are among those to appear previously at the event, which also awards a “lifetime achievement” honour.

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