MG ALBA SCOTS TRAD MUSIC AWARDS 2008 Results
More photos and information from the night on the BBC Scotland Scots Trad Music Awards mini-site.

Here's some great photos by Living Tradition's Pete Heywood.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY BIRNAM CD

Farrar: Duncan Chisholm: Copperfish Records: CPFCD003
Duncan Chisholm’s fiddle playing is one of the most sensitive and beautiful sounds today. He delivers exquisite tone, technique and control, shaping these slow airs and song tunes, mostly of Gaelic provenance and many self-penned. This is Duncan's third album and a classic.

CLUB OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY LIVING TRADITION MAGAZINE

The Wee Folk Club, Edinburgh
The Wee Folk Club meets in the Royal Oak, Infirmary Street, Edinburgh every Sunday at 8:30pm. It is probably the smallest folk club in the world with a capacity of only 30.  Every year during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe the Wee Folk Club hosts a month-long nightly programme of folk music. This wonderful wee folk club and festival is run by the inimitable Paddy Bort. The Royal Oak is also an excellent session venue throughout the week.

COMMUNITY PROJECT OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY BBC RADIO SHETLAND

Ceolas
Ceòlas is a wonderful music and dance summer school featuring expert tuition in piping, fiddling, singing, step dancing and the Gaelic language. Under the artistic direction of Iain MacDonald, it is set within the Gaelic-speaking community of South Uist. Ceòlas explores the vital connections between Scottish traditional music, Gaelic song and dance, allowing ample opportunity for participants to enjoy all these art forms in cèilidhs and in homes, the places which fostered them. This approach leads to a fuller appreciation of the riches of individual traditions, and how they connect and interact with each other.

DISTIL COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

Blair Douglas
The Skye based musician and composer is internationally acclaimed, with musical compositions such as Kate Martin's Waltz and Solus m'Aigh that have resonated across the globe and across the genres, Blair Douglas released his fifth studio album Stay Strong in June 2008. Blair is still, in many ways, Gaelic culture’s best kept secret.

EVENT OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY VISITSCOTLAND

Piping Live! Festival
Over the last few years, Piping Live! has established itself as one of the most exciting celebrations of Scottish culture, offering a refreshing twist on traditional piping events. A week long event that makes Glasgow the centre of the world stage for piping brilliance, it is exciting and challenging, traditional and contemporary and very much alive. The Festival fosters both the experimental energy of today's newest talent and the awesome accomplishment of established musicians from across the globe as well as a programme of recitals, talks, competitions and much else.

GAELIC SINGER OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY MACMEANMNA

Margaret Stewart
Margaret Stewart is one of Scotland's finest Gaelic singers. She comes from the Island of Lewis, is a native Gaelic speaker and a natural singer from childhood who has also won the accolade of a Gold Medal at the Mod. Margaret has recorded two acclaimed albums with piper Allan MacDonald  and in 2008 her many fans were delighted when Greentrax released her first solo CD,Togaidh Mi Mo Sheolta (Along The Road Less Travelled). "Margaret’s singing comes from her heart, and the knowledge and understanding she has of the oral tradition of the Gael comes through so clearly in her singing"....The Scotsman

SERVICES TO INDUSTRY AWARD SPONSORED BY SCOTTISH ARTS COUNCIL

Arthur Cormack
Also known as the busiest man in the Highlands, Arthur Cormack is the director of Feisean nan Gaidheal, the organisation which supports the development of community-based Gaelic arts tuition festivals throughout Scotland. He is also proprietor of Gaelic recording company Macmeanmna  as well as a one of the finest Gaelic singers of his generation.  Arthur who lives on the Isle of Skye, is a passionate advocate for the Gaelic language and was recently appointed to the position of Interim Chair of Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY TEMPLE RECORDS

Kris Drever
As well as a being a rising singing star Kris Drever is an inspired and inventive guitarist. His style - a highly individual blend of rhythm and harmony, folk, jazz, rock and country inflections - finds him in near-constant demand as a session player. Kris is a member of acclaimed band Lau and the trio Drever, McCusker & Woomble.

LIVE ACT OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY GREENTRAX

Peatbog Faeries
Formed in 1994, Skye's Peatbog Faeries now rank among the veterans of contemporary Celtic fusion, but far from slackening off they're sounding mightier than ever. With their signature sound of fiddle, pipes and whistles allied to electric guitar, bass keyboards and drums, the Peatbogs have always had a large and varied musical palette to draw from, mixing reels and jigs with the colours and rhythms of rock, world and dance music, to headily powerful effect. Since they added a three piece brass section a couple of years ago, their sound has taken on several new dimensions, in terms of both its scale and its multi-layered complexity. And with the nine-piece line-up now fully bedded in, this wealth of fresh possibilities has not only been thoroughly explored, but honed into resplendently slick, taut, intricate arrangements, and one of the best live shows on the current Celtic scene. The Peatbog Faeries are the most pumping, uplifting and exciting Scottish fusion you're ever likely to come across.

CITTY FINLAYSON SCOTS SINGER OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND SONG ASSOCIATION

Emily Smith
Multi award winning singer and songwriter Emily Smith has firmly established herself as one of Scotland’s leading lights in folk music through her performances at concerts and festivals around the world. Emily is an advocate for the music of her native Dumfries and Galloway homeland through the material, whether it be traditional or her own songs.  Emily writes, “I try to portray the beauty and diversity of where I come from. I love being able to sing a song and picture the exact setting of where the event took place, or to sing some of Robert Burns’ material and know that he travelled the same roads and admired the same landscapes as I do today.”

SCOTTISH DANCE BAND OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ACCORDION AND FIDDLE CLUBS

Skipinnish
The band "Skipinnish" was formed in early 1999 when accordionist Angus MacPhail from Tiree and piper Andrew Stevenson from Achnacarry joined musical forces. After the formation of "Skipinnish", their popularity snowballed, and they very soon became in demand for festivals, concerts, dances, weddings and many other events throughout the U.K. and abroad. Both Angus and Andrew have a verve and vitality for their music which bursts through the jigs, reels & schottisches. If this music doesn't drive you to the dance floor then nothing will!

SCOTTISH FOLK BAND OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY FOOT STOMPIN' SCOTTISH MUSIC

The Chair
The 8-strong 'The Chair' from the Orkney Islands set the floor alight with their superb brand of high energy "stomp" music. It's been a busy time for The Chair's eight band -members: Gavin Firth on guitar, Fionn McArthur on fiddle, Bob Gibbon on accordion, Brian Cromarty banjo and vocals, Chas Milne on bass guitar, Erik Laughton on drums, Douglas Montgomery on fiddle and mandolin, and Robbie Thomson on percussion with several festival appearances and the release of their popular first album Huinka (an Orkney Norn word for 'On the Prowl'). The Chair are dynamic, energetic, exciting and innovative.

SCOTTISH PIPE BAND OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY THE NATIONAL PIPING CENTRE

Scottish Power Pipe Band
Scottish Power Pipe Band currently under the leadership of Pipe Major Chris Armstrong are one of the world's leading grade 1 pipe bands having featured as a regular prize-winner in all major competitions over several decades.  Great ambassadors for the piping scene, and voted best dressed pipe band Scottish Power are in constant demand throughout the world, having performed in the US, Canada, Japan and China and many European countries.

UP AND COMING ARTIST OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY OF MUSIC AND DRAMA

Jeana Leslie & Siobhan Miller
Jeana Leslie from Orkney and Siobhan Miller from Penicuik met while students at the RSAMD. They excel in the vocal department in particular, both in Miller’s lovely lead singing and their beautifully judged harmony vocals, but Leslie is also a fine fiddler. Together, they won the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award 2008. Jeana and Siobhan have gone on to make a CD titled 'In a Bleeze' and to appear at several prestigious festivals.

STRATHSPEY AND REEL SOCIETY OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY ROYAL SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY

Scottish Fiddle Orchestra
The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra was formed in 1980, deriving its origins from Fiddlers’ Rallies which were – and are – held throughout the country. After one of these Rallies, a group of enthusiasts met to consider the formation of an orchestra which would draw its members from a’ the airts and would form a cohesive, vigorously rehearsed group of musicians. Since that time the Orchestra has settled into a sequence of five major concerts each year – in the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, the Music Hall, Aberdeen, the Barbican, York, and the Barbican Centre, London. A small number of other “special” concerts are also undertaken each year as well as tours to Ireland, Canada and the USA.  All of their concerts are given in aid of one or more charities; over the years these have benefited by a sum well in excess of a million and a half pounds.

VENUE OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY NAVIGATOR RECORDS

Perth Concert Hall
Perth Concert Hall is Scotland’s newest concert hall: it opened in 2005 in Mill Street,  in the centre of the town. Built as a millennium project, Perth Concert Hall has a dazzling glass-fronted foyer and copper-topped dome hall with a stunning auditorium and elegant studio. They have a busy year-round programme of concerts, comedy, dance, musicals, new media art, film, talks, arts workshops and hire out their spaces for conferences and events.

SCOTTISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC HALL OF FAME SPONSORED BY FÈISEAN NAN GÀIDHEAL

Alasdair Gillies (Gaelic song)
Alexander Brothers
Dougie MacLean
Jean Redpath
John Carmichael
P/M Iain McClellan
Runrig

2008 SPECIAL AWARD - SERVICES TO GAELIC MUSIC SPONSORED BY BÒRD NA GÀIDHLIG

Capercaillie

HAMISH HENDERSON SERVICES TO TRADITIONAL MUSIC AWARD SPONSORED BY FÈISEAN NAN GÀIDHEAL

Robin Morton

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