‘Peatlemania’ island band crowned best live act at Scots Trad Music Awards
Isle of Lewis outfit Peat & Diesel – who have sold more than 7000 tickets for a 2020 tour after being mobbed at festival audiences around the country this year – were one of the big winners at the Scots Trad Music Awards ceremony in Aberdeen. The honour caps a remarkable rise to prominence this year, which has seen the band propelled from playing pub gigs to becoming social media sensations, drawing thousands of fans at music festivals and selling out a forthcoming gig at Glasgow’s iconic Barrowland Ballroom. Their seemingly overnight success and has been fuelled by a #Peatlemania campaign on social media and credited to the popularity of the “nonsense songs” inspired by island life, which are created by fisherman-frontman Callum “Boydie” MacLeod, who formed the band with electrician Innes Scott and delivery driver Uilleam “Uilly” MacLeod. They have become folk heroes in their native Stornoway, where they were granted a last-minute main stage slot at the Hebridean Celtic Festival last summer to accommodate demand from audiences to see them. The awards event, which was broadcast live on BBC Alba and Radio Scotland live from Aberdeen’s Music Hall, saw the Tiree Music Festival, declared event of the year just days after it was declared a sell-out for next year. Islander Daniel Gillespie, artistic director of the festival, which was staged for the 10th time this year, said: “I think the island really was the main impetus to start the event. We have brilliant times as teenagers in the summer on Tiree and we just wanted to share that with people. “We mulled over the idea and how difficult it would be for a couple of years before we gave it a try. We had 600 people in the first year and 2000 people this year, which is really at peak capacity.”
Rising Glasgow-based stars Kinnaris Quintet, who performed at the opening ceremony of the Solheim Cup golf tournament at Gleneagles earlier this year, won the new Belhaven Bursary, Scotland’s most lucrative arts prize. Launched last year to recognise innovation in Scottish folk and traditional music, the £25,000 award, which was created by Belhaven Brewery in East Lothian, is aimed at helping new bands take their music overseas and includes the chance to perform at the Tartan Week festivities in New York. Jenn Butterworth, guitarist with Kinnaris Quintet, who was also named Scotland’s musician of the year, said of the Belhaven Bursary award: “It’s absolutely incredible for a band to have that kind of support behind us now.
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Hide Ad“We actually struggle to get together to make music at the moment - this will definitely support us to do that more often. We can think about what we can in an entirely different realm.” Shetland fiddler Jenna Reid was named composer of the year while her band Blazin’ Fiddles won the coveted best folk band title at the awards which are also known as “Na Trads.” Breabach won the best album award ahead of the band’s 15th anniversary in 2020. Man of the Minch, who is billed as “the aquatic alias of Glasgow-based queer galactic folk pop act and multi-instrumentalist Pedro Cameron,” was named best up-and-coming-act.
Other winners include broadcaster Mary Ann Kennedy, who co-hosted the awards ceremony and was named Gaelic singer of the year, Scots singer of the year Steve Byrne and An Tobar, on the Isle of Mull, which was named best venue. Murdo MacSween, communications manager for MG Alba, who stage the event with promoters Hands Up For Trad, said: “It’s been another wonderful year for Scottish traditional music, and we’re delighted to yet again be at the heart of this celebration of our world-class talent.” Alan Morrison, head of music at Creative Scotland, said: “Yet again Na Trads prove that Scotland has an age-old music which lives and breathes in the 21st century.” FULL LIST OF NA TRADS WINNERS Album of the Year Frenzy of the Meeting by Breabach Belhaven Bursary Kinnaris Quintet Club of the Year Sutherland Sessions Composer of the Year Jenna Reid Community Project of the Year SEALL Festival of Small Halls Event of the Year Tiree Music Festival Gaelic Singer of the Year Mary Ann Kennedy Musician of the Year Jenn Butterworth Live Act of the Year Peat and Diesel Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year Steve Byrne Scottish Dance Band of the Year The Cruickshank Family Band Scottish Folk Band of the Year Blazin’ Fiddles Scottish Pipe Band of the Year Inverary and District Pipe Band Trad Video of the Year Heroes by Tide Lines Music Tutor of the Year Iain Ruari Finlayson, Skye Schools Up and Coming Artist of the Year Man of the Minch Venue of the Year Award An Tobar, Isle of Mull Hamish Henderson Services to Traditional Music Award Dr. Peter Cooke Services to Gaelic Award Anne Soutar Janet Paisley Services to Scots Language Award Sheena Blackhall