Martyn Bennett was a Canadian-Scottish musician who was influential in the evolution of modern Celtic fusion, a blending of traditional Celtic and modern music. He was a piper, violinist, composer and producer. He was an innovator and his compositions crossed musical and cultural divides. Sporting dreadlocks at the height of his performing career, his energetic displays led to descriptions such as "the techno piper". Diagnosis of serious illness at the age of thirty curtailed his live performances, although he completed a further two albums in the studio. He died fifteen months after release of his fifth album Grit.
Julie Fowlis is a Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic.
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.
Fiona J Mackenzie is a Gaelic singer from Dingwall in Scotland, and has toured and performed throughout Europe and North America. In 2005 she won the An Comunn Gàidhealach Gold Medal at the Royal National Mod in Stornoway.
Lori Watson is a fiddle player and folk singer who performs traditional and contemporary folk music. She is the first doctor of Artistic Research in Scottish Music.
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.
Alyth Catriona McCormack, better known mononymously as Alyth is a Scottish singer, songwriter and actress. She was brought up on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. In 2020 she has collaborated with the Art of Peace global project, composed and arranged by Mehran Alirezaei as vocalist.
Findlay Napier, is a Scottish singer songwriter and teaching artist.
Mairi Campbell is a Scottish folk singer and musician. Campbell's songs and music have a rooted and powerful quality that range from the everyday to the universal, both in sound and subject matter.
Kathleen MacInnes, or Caitlin NicAonghais in Scottish Gaelic, is a Scottish singer, television presenter and actress, who performs primarily in Scottish Gaelic. She is a native of South Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and lives in Glasgow with her partner and three sons. In 2010, she appeared on the soundtrack to the Ridley Scott film Robin Hood.
Niteworks is an Electronic Celtic fusion band from the Isle of Skye. The band are known for writing new songs in Gaelic and melding the bagpipes and Gaelic songs such as puirt a beul with techno and house beats.
Jenna Reid is a Scottish fiddle player who has been described as "...the finest fiddler in Scotland of her generation." She was born and brought up in the village of Quarff, in the Shetland Islands of Scotland and found a fiddle in her grandmother's attic when she was nine years old and started to play it. She was taught by Tom Anderson and Willie Hunter and also studied the classical piano. She Graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dance, Glasgow with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Scottish traditional music where she also sang and played the piano accordion and the piano.
Breabach is a Scottish folk music band formed in 2005. In 2011, they received nominations for ‘Best Group’ at both the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and the Scots Trad Music Awards They won Scottish Folk Band of the Year at the 2012 Trads and Live Act of the Year in 2013.
Sarah Hayes is a British folk musician and multi-instrumentalist. She is a member of the indie folk band Admiral Fallow and also a solo artist.
Maggie Macdonald was a Scottish Gaelic singer and primary school teacher. She was a Mòd gold medallist and sang with the Gaelic super-group, Cliar. She was part of The Campbells Of Greepe, along with other family members.
Kenna Campbell is a Scottish singer, teacher, tradition bearer and advocate for Gaelic language, culture and song.
Jenn Butterworth is an acoustic folk guitarist and singer based in Glasgow, Scotland, who was awarded the title "Musician of the Year" at the 2019 Scots Trad Music Awards, and was nominated for the same title at the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. She was a founder member of Kinnaris Quintet, who won the Belhaven Bursary for Innovation in Scottish Music at the 2019 Scots Trad Music Awards.
The BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician competition has run annually since 2001. It exists to encourage young musicians to keep their tradition alive and to provide performance opportunities, tools and advice to help contestants make a career in traditional music. Former winners include Mohsen Amini, Robyn Stapleton, Shona Mooney and Emily Smith.
Sian is a Scottish all-female traditional band who are known for their Gaelic vocal harmonies and celebrating Gaelic songs composed by women. They formed to raise the prominence of work by female Gaelic bards, which might not have received much attention or credit otherwise.
