The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2.
Alasdair Roberts is a Scottish folk musician. He released a number of albums under the name Appendix Out and, following the 2001 album The Night Is Advancing, under his own name. Roberts is also known for his frequent collaborations with other musicians and writers, as well as for being a member of the folk supergroup The Furrow Collective.
James Yorkston is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist, he has released music with his backing band the Athletes, as part of the Fence Collective, and as a member of the trio Yorkston/Thorne/Khan. He has also written fiction and non-fiction books.
Karine Polwart is a Scottish singer-songwriter. She writes and performs music with a strong folk and roots feel, her songs dealing with a variety of issues from alcoholism to genocide. She has been most recognised for her solo career, winning three awards at the BBC Folk Awards in 2005, and was previously a member of Malinky and Battlefield Band.
"The Parting Glass" is a Scottish traditional song, often sung at the end of a gathering of friends. It has also long been sung in Ireland, where it remains popular and has strongly influenced how it is often sung today. It was purportedly the most popular parting song sung in Scotland before Robert Burns wrote "Auld Lang Syne".
The Famous Flower of Serving-Men or The Lady turned Serving-Man is a traditional English language folk song and murder ballad. Child considered it as closely related to the ballad "The Lament of the Border Widow" or "The Border Widow's Lament".
"Unusually, it is possible to give a precise date and authorship to this ballad. It was written by the prolific balladeer, Laurence Price, and published in July 1656, under the title of The famous Flower of Serving-Men. Or, The Lady turn'd Serving-Man. It lasted in the mouths of ordinary people for three hundred years: what a tribute to the work of any writer, leave alone the obscure Laurence Price. Oral tradition, however, has made changes. The original has twenty-eight verses and a fairy-tale ending: “And then for fear of further strife, / he took Sweet William to be his Wife: / The like before was never seen, / A Serving-man to be a Queen”. - Roy Palmer, A Book of British Ballads
Malinky is a Scottish folk band specialising in Scots song, formed in autumn 1998.
Future Pilot A.K.A. is the pseudonym of Glasgow indie musician Sushil K. Dade. Dade is a former member of the Soup Dragons, BMX Bandits and Telstar Ponies. Future Pilot's music blends classic indie pop with Indian classical, dub and hip hop influences.
Scribbled in Chalk is the second studio album by Scottish folk musician Karine Polwart, released on 7 March 2006.
Lau is a British folk band from both Scotland and England, formed in 2005. Named after an Orcadian word meaning "natural light", the band is composed of Kris Drever, Martin Green and Aidan O'Rourke (fiddle). To date, the band has released five studio albums, several EPs, and two live albums.
Faultlines is the debut studio album by Scottish folk musician Karine Polwart, released on 19 January 2004.
Fairest Floo'er is the third studio album by Scottish folk musician Karine Polwart, released on 10 December 2007. Fairest Floo'er is one of two albums that Polwart recorded in 2007 during a break from live performances; Polwart was pregnant with her first child whilst recording.
This Earthly Spell is the fourth studio album by Scottish folk musician Karine Polwart, released on 10 March 2008. The album was released just three months after Fairest Floo'er, and contains original compositions.
Krista Detor is a singer-songwriter and pianist from Indiana whose music has been featured on NPR and with Mike Harding on the BBC.
Darwin Song Project is a compilation album, released on 7 September 2009. It features folk artists from the UK and North America, who were tasked with the creation of new songs that had a "resonance and relevance to Charles Darwin". The artists gathered together for seven days in a farmhouse in Shropshire to compose the songs. The artists were: Chris Wood, Karine Polwart, Jez Lowe, Mark Erelli, Emily Smith, Rachael McShane, Krista Detor and Stu Hanna.
Emily Smith is a Scottish folk singer from Dumfries and Galloway. She went to school at Wallace Hall and has a degree in Scottish music from The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She is married to New Zealand-born fiddle player and guitarist Jamie McClennan.
Inge Thomson is a Scottish singer and multi-instrumentalist.
The Burns Unit was an eight-piece Scottish-Canadian folk music supergroup. The band formed in 2006, after the musicians met at Burnsong, a Scottish songwriting retreat. The band members come from varying musical genres including folk, pop and rap, and all have either acclaimed solo careers or are also members of other bands. The band had its debut concert in 2009 in Glasgow, Scotland, at the Celtic Connections music festival. In 2010, they released their debut album, Side Show. They continued to perform gigs and at festivals during 2011-2012, then amicably split, with members continuing their own respective careers.
RM Hubbert, commonly known as Hubby, is a Scottish guitarist and singer. Best known for his solo work as RM Hubbert and as a member of Scottish post rock band El Hombre Trajeado, he has been an active member of the Glaswegian DIY music scene since 1991.
Songs of Separation was a music project created in the aftermath of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum to explore through the medium of music ideas of separation. It was organised by double-bass player Jenny Hill and brought together ten female folk musicians from Scotland and England for one week in June 2015 on the Isle of Eigg. The resulting album won the "Best Album" category in the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
