World music is an English phrase for styles of music from non-Western countries, including quasi-traditional, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical category pose obstacles to a universal definition, but its ethic of interest in the culturally exotic is encapsulated in Roots magazine's description of the genre as "local music from out there".
Runrig was a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included brothers and songwriters Rory MacDonald and Calum MacDonald (percussion). The line-up during most of the 1980s and 1990s also included Donnie Munro (vocals), Malcolm Jones (guitar), Iain Bayne (drums), and Pete Wishart (keyboards). Munro left the band in 1997 to pursue a career in politics and was replaced by Bruce Guthro. Wishart left in 2001, also to pursue a career in politics, and was replaced by Brian Hurren. The band released fourteen studio albums, with a number of their songs sung in Scottish Gaelic.
Catherine-Ann MacPhee is a Scottish Gaelic singer from Barra in the Hebrides, now resident in Canada. She has worked in the theatre and broadcasting as well as giving musical performances in Scotland, England, Canada and elsewhere. After a period living in Ottawa she moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2017.
The Scots Trad Music Awards or Na Trads were founded in 2003 by Simon Thoumire to celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and public attention. Nominations are made by the public and in 2019 over 100,000 public votes were expected across 18 categories.
The Rudolstadt-Festival is a German folk, roots and world music festival. It takes place annually on the first full July weekend in Rudolstadt/Thuringia and lasts from Thursday evening to Sunday night. Until 2010 it was preceded by a special concert on Thursday evening at the Heidecksburg-castle and started officially on Friday evening at the market place of Rudolstadt.
Katie Doherty, born 1983, is a singer-songwriter based in the North East of England. In 2007 she won the Journal Culture Award for Newcomer of the Year.
Mary Ann Kennedy, is a Scottish musician, singer, choral director, composer, radio and television presenter, and music producer.
Joy Dunlop is a Scottish broadcaster, singer, step dancer and educator from the village of Connel in Argyll, who now lives in Glasgow, Scotland. Singing predominantly in Scottish Gaelic, she performs folk music, song and dance in a contemporary style rooted in the tradition. She is a weather presenter for BBC Scotland and BBC ALBA and formerly a volunteer radio presenter with Oban FM
Arrogance Ignorance and Greed is the fourteenth studio album by English folk duo Show of Hands. Released in 2009 on the band's label Hands on Music, the album was produced by Stu Hanna of the English folk duo Megson, with additional production by Mark Tucker. The album followed an emotionally painful period for Steve Knightley where members of his family battled serious illnesses. This led to the album becoming particularly personal and darker than previous Show of Hands albums, aided by Hanna's direct and sharp production. The album also discusses several social and political concerns, and contains several collaborations with other musicians and vocalists.
We See Lights is a Scottish alternative indie pop band from Edinburgh, Scotland.
O'Hooley & Tidow are an English folk music duo from Yorkshire. Singer-songwriter Heidi Tidow performs and records with her wife, singer-songwriter and pianist Belinda O'Hooley, who was formerly a member of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset. O'Hooley & Tidow were nominated for Best Duo at the 2013 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Their 2016 album Shadows was given a five-star review in The Guardian, and four of their other albums, including their 2017 release WinterFolk Volume 1, have received four-star reviews in the British national press. From 2019 to 2022, their song "Gentleman Jack", from the album The Fragile, featured as the closing theme for the BBC/HBO television series Gentleman Jack. Their album Cloudheads was released on 21 April 2023.
Rhiannon Giddens is an American musician known for her eclectic folk music. She is a founding member of the country, blues, and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she was the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player.
Zervas and Pepper are a musical duo from Cardiff, Wales, who formed in late 2007. They play as a two piece outfit or a full band, and have a strong and growing presence on the UK-wide live circuit and international airtime, including appearances at theatres and festivals such as Glastonbury Festival and Green Man Festival, and regular national radio appearances.
Mark Holub is an American drummer and composer who was born in New Jersey, lived for many years in London, UK and is now based in Vienna, Austria. He is most well known as the bandleader for Led Bib, award-winning and Mercury Prize nominated jazz/rock quintet. He also plays regularly with other bands including Blueblut, a trio with Pamelia Kurstin - theremin and Chris Janka - guitar,who were recently on the Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik Bestenliste 'The Quartet' with Wang Chung front man Jack Hues, and he plays free improv with various collections of players including a long standing duo with sax player Colin Webster., a trio with Viola Falb and Bernd Satzinger and a duo with violinist Irene Kepl
The Black Feathers are a husband and wife roots music duo based in Gloucestershire, UK who play a blend of Folk and Americana. Their debut EP was listed in The Telegraph as one of the best Folk albums of 2014.
Kyle Carey is a Celtic Americana musical artist who creates a synthesis of music called 'Gaelic Americana'.
The Long Way Home is the seventeenth studio album by the folk duo Show of Hands. It was released on 15 January 2016, although copies were available at dates on the autumn tour in 2015.
Quinn & Qristina Bachand are a brother-sister duo from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Qristina plays fiddle and sings; Quinn plays acoustic guitar, Irish tenor banjo, clawhammer banjo, bodhran, fiddle, electric guitar and sings. Since forming in 2007, they have become important names in the international Celtic music scene, performing across Canada, the US and in Europe at clubs, concert halls and music festivals. Qristina and Quinn have shared the stage with the likes of Ashley MacIsaac, Battlefield Band, Lau, Lunasa, Liz Carroll & John Doyle, Natalie MacMaster, and The Barra MacNeils.
Marcas Mac an Tuairneir is an English writer and singer. He writes and publishes in Scottish Gaelic, English and Polari.
Iona Fyfe is a Scottish singer from Huntly, Aberdeenshire known for singing Scots folk songs and ballads. In 2016, she was a semi-finalist of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award and, in 2017 and 2021, was a finalist of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician award. In 2018, she won "Scots Singer of the Year" at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards. In 2019, she won "Young Scots Speaker o the Year" at the inaugural Scots Language Awards, winning "Scots Performer o the Year" in the 2020 Awards, and "Scots Speaker o the Year" in the 2021 Awards. She has advocated for official recognition of the Scots language, successfully petitioning Spotify to add Scots to their list of languages.
