To vote for any of the events below online visit BBC Celtic Roots or download this form (Word or PDF) and send or email it to this address. Check out this year's running order.

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Instrumentalist of the Year (sponsored by Temple Records)

Archie McAllister (fiddle)
Archie McAllister's fiddling, steeped in West Coast dance traditions, carries a frankness of tone that is extremely effective on slow airs and downright exhilarating at full tilt. Archie is arguably the Scottish Folk Scene's most exciting live fiddler (Living Tradition) and plays with the Jura Ceilidh Band and Alasdair MacCuish and the Black Rose Ceilidh Band.

Chris Stout (fiddle)
After acquiring the title "Young Fiddler of the Year" for his traditional fiddling, and Shetland's "Young Musician of the Year" for performing a classical repertoire, Chris moved to Glasgow at the age of 16 to study at the Douglas Academy of Music. After a spell there, he completed two degrees at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, graduating in 1999. Chris has a wide range of musical abilities and interests including Electro Acoustic Composition, Jazz, Classical and traditional. Chris fronts his own band and also plays with Fiddlers Bid, The Finlay MacDonald Band, Salsa Celtica, Celtic Feet and in a duo with harpist Catriona MacKay.

Corrina Hewat (clarsach)
Over the last ten years, singer and harp player Corrina Hewat has emerged as one of the most distinctive, original and versatile artists on the contemporary Scottish scene. Synthesising the energies and idioms of traditional, jazz and classical music, in formats ranging from entirely solo to a 31-piece "folk orchestra", Corrina's combined talents as a vocalist, instrumentalist, composer and arranger have won her steadily increasing acclaim among critics, fellow musicians and audiences alike.

Fred Morrison (bagpipes) - WINNER
Fred Morrison was, from the very beginning, immersed in the atmosphere of Uist piping. He was taught by his father, an excellent piper from the Clann Seonaidh Aonghais Ruaidh, of South Uist, whose tutoring was based wholly on the cainntearachd, a unique singing style used to teach piping, where specific notes and rhythms are given particular sounds. Fred's natural flair and immaculate technique, along with his sincere approach, combine to create a unique and rousing performance. In the "Scotsman" his playing has been described as 'almost shocking in its subtlety and brilliance'.

Journalist of the Year (sponsored by Greentrax Recordings)

Jim Gilchrist
Jim writes for the Scotsman.

Kenny Mathieson
Kenny writes for the Scotsman and is editor of Hi-Arts Internet Journal

Rob Adams
Rob writes for the Herald and other papers and magazines.

Sue Wilson - WINNER
Sue writes for the Sunday Herald and other papers and magazines.

Live Act of the Year (sponsored by Musician's Union)

Blazin' Fiddles - WINNER
In the past decade no other band has quite captured the excitement, passion and the sensitivity of Scottish music as Blazin' Fiddles. Having grown from a showcase tour of individual fiddlers highlighting the distinctive flavours of Highlands and Islands fiddle music, Blazin' Fiddles have gone on to become a fully fledged band with a world-wide following. One of the most exciting and memorable fiddle ensembles ever to take the stage.

Finlay MacDonald Band
The Finlay MacDonald Band, brings together the tightest of Jazz, Funk grooves with blistering traditional and contemporary Tunes on pipes and fiddle. The band have been forging a reputation as one of the hottest live acts to come out of Scotland and are in demand all over Europe for Festivals, one off gigs and full tours.

Session A9
A dream team featuring some of Scotland's most innovative fiddle players, enhanced by a class act backing band dubbed the nation's next supergroup. Session A9 is a project that has evolved from live tune sessions up and down the length of the country - hence the name, and strives to bring fresh, creative and original music to a worldwide audience.

Unusual Suspects
This twenty-two strong, star-studded supergroup - including fiddles, accordions, pipes, brass, voices and a driving rhythm section - has twice taken Celtic Connections by storm and last year became a hugely successful Folkworks tour. "Remarkable achievement and uproarious experience" Inverness Courier

The Media Award (sponsored by Royal Scottish Country Dance Society)

Beolach
Students from the National Centre for Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton, Feisean nan Gaidheal and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow were involved in a unique music project - Beolach - which was recorded for Television and Radio in Portree in March 2004. After a series of workshops, 36 musical items were recorded over the course of four days in Portree. Each organisation performed separately, collaboratively, and in performance with professional musicians. The event culminated in a public performance at the Skye Gathering Halls.

Highlands and Islands Arts Journal (HI~Arts Journal)
Highlands and Islands Arts Ltd (HI~Arts) is an independent company limited by guarantee with charitable status, established in 1990 to promote and develop the arts in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. HI~Arts launched the Highlands and Islands Arts Online Journal on 5th June 2003. The site now receives up to 4,000 unique visitors every day.

Take the Floor (Radio Scotland) - WINNER
Take the Floor is the longest-running radio programme in Scotland. It began in the 1930s on the Scottish Home Service under the title 'Scottish Dance Music' to be renamed 'Take the Floor' in 1978 when Radio Scotland came on air. Robbie Shepherd has been presenting 'Take the Floor' and 'The Reel Blend' for BBC Radio Scotland since the early 1980's and, in recognition of this, was awarded an M.B.E. for his services to Scottish Dance Music and Scottish Culture in 2001.

The Sunday Getherin' (Radio Borders)
The Sunday Getherin' is the weekly show dedicated to traditional music in the borders. The show started of with a one hour time slot on 25th January 2004 but became so popular that it was extended to a two hour time slot within 6 months. There's a wide selection of music from folk to Celtic and Scottish dance to traditional.

Retailer of the Year (sponsored by Highlander Music)*

Folk Revolution (22 Clarendon Place, Glasgow)
Folk Revolution have tried to create a 'one-stop' shop for traditional music. Unlike many music retailers, they stock CDs as well as books, instruments and accessories. As the business has grown, it has grown in different and often unexpected directions, and it continues to do so. Folk Revolution are proud to be able to say that many of the artists whose CDs we stock come into the shop frequently.

Foot Stompin Celtic Music - WINNER
Edinburgh based Foot Stompin' Celtic Music (www.footstompin.com) is dedicated to bringing its customers the latest CDs, news, reviews and hot topics from the vibrant Scottish traditional music scene and to highlighting the many talented musicians who play this wonderful music. Foot Stompin' Celtic Music is a family business and an arm of Foot Stompin' Records, a label whose special interest is the 'bright young stars' of Scottish music.

MusicScotland.com
MusicScotland is currently one of the most requested sites on the Internet for Scottish and Celtic music. They have been trading since 1999 with music companies throughout Scotland, Ireland and the UK to maintain a comprehensive and growing catalogue of Scottish music on CD. They're based in Tobermory on the Island of Mull and have recently opened a retail store here, just off Main Street near the Mishnish Hotel.

Record Rendezvous (14a Church Street, Inverness)
Record Rendezvous was established in 1968. It sell CDs and cassettes of all genres from bagpiping to folk to Scottish dance band.

Scots Singer of the Year (sponsored by Traditional Music and Song Association)

Dick Gaughan - WINNER
An inspirational figure in Scottish music for more than thirty years Dick Gaughan has recorded 12 solo albums including the seminal "Handful of Earth" plus countless other collaborations, with such bands as Boys of the Lough, Five Hand Reel and Clan Alba. A unique vocal style, described as "both stirring and spine-chilling," combined with his phenomenal guitar technique and highly eclectic repertoire ensures a large following for this most influential folk singer of his generation.

Gordeanna McCulloch
Gordeanna McCulloch began her singing apprenticeship in Norman Buchan's Ballads Club in the sixties and went on to become a fully fledged tradesperson with the Clutha, travelling extensively at home and abroad singing powerfully and mainly traditional songs. Gordeanna has a love of powerful songs, and the main principle in singing a song is that she feels something about it. She was for some time a member of the popular singing quartet Palaver and still sings in an occasional duo with Chris Miles and in the Glasgow based Eurydice Choir.

Jim Malcolm
Jim Malcolm, lead singer with the much-travelled group Old Blind Dogs, was brought up in Perthshire and Angus and, by his early twenties, was winning songwriting competitions and playing in folk clubs all over Scotland. He has recorded four solo albums and undertaken several tours in the North America and Europe. His songs have been recorded by other artists and Neptune, from the CD "Sconeword", featured on an award-winning documentary about a North Sea oil spill.

Maureen Jelks
Maureen was born in Dundee and always loved to sing, but didn't discover the traditional music scene till the 1970s when her fine voice ensured that she won several of the TMSA competitions. Much influenced by the singing of the late Belle Stewart, Maureen was one of the singers featured in the television series for BBC2 'The Jean Redpath Song Masterclass'. She performs as both a soloist and with singing group Palaver and enjoys teaching traditional songs in schools in Dundee and Fife.

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* This category will be counted by Greentrax Recordings to avoid any conflicts of interest.

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