This annual BBC celebration of folk music took place at The Royal Albert Hall this year. Last year’s show was held in Glasgow while the previous year’s event took place in Salford. It is the third time that the awards has been open to the public and as before it rapidly sold out.
The show was conducted in the usual slick fashion with equipment being rapidly changed on right-hand side of the stage while BBC Folk Show presenter Mark Radcliffe and Scottish folk singer Julie Fowlis compered the event on the left-hand side.
There were some fabulous performances from great British folk acts and a few from the fringes of the genre. The folk big-band Bellowhead were a suitably upbeat start to events, Martin Simpson performed with his Sheffield near-neighbour Richard Hawley and Lifetime Achievement Award winners Clannad and Martin Carthy (performing with his daughter Eliza) were given a warm reception. There were also songs from Suzanne Vega (with virtuoso trumpeter Alison Balsom) and winners of the best folk song award: Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer.
Double award winners The Full English are an ensemble of top folk musicians including Seth Lakeman, Nancy Kerr, Martin Simpson and Fay Hield. They play outstanding arrangements of material drawn from the new online database of folk songs run by the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Their performance fitted well with the staged Cecil Sharp Tribute where the famous song collector was played by veteran folk musician Ashley Hutchins. He made his entry on an Edwardian bicycle, Sharp’s favoured mode of transport. Sharp’s first encounters with folk music were also recreated on stage: The Headington Quarry Morris Men in 1899 and his overhearing of The Seeds Of Love in 1903, sung by gardener John England.
The Fisherman’s Friends were given a standing ovation as they took the stage for their first performance since singer Trevor Grills and tour manager Paul McMullen were killed in a tragic accident in Guildford.
The show ended with a tribute to recently deceased folk legend Pete Seeger. His sister Peggy Seeger led an impressive assemblage of folk musicians and the audience in a sing-along of Pete Seeger’s song Quite Early Morning; a fitting commemoration to a man who did so much to promote and popularise folk music.
Award winners
Folk singer of the year - Bella Hardy
Musician of the year - Aidan O’Rourke
Best album - The Full English by The Full English
Best group - The Full English
Best duo - Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin
Best original song - Two Ravens by Lisa Knapp
Best traditional track - Willie Of Winsbury by Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer
Horizon award - Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar
Young folk award - The Mischa MacPherson Trio
Achievement awards
Lifetime achievement award - Clannad
Lifetime achievement award - Martin Carthy
Good tradition award - Cambridge Folk Festival
The show was conducted in the usual slick fashion with equipment being rapidly changed on right-hand side of the stage while BBC Folk Show presenter Mark Radcliffe and Scottish folk singer Julie Fowlis compered the event on the left-hand side.
There were some fabulous performances from great British folk acts and a few from the fringes of the genre. The folk big-band Bellowhead were a suitably upbeat start to events, Martin Simpson performed with his Sheffield near-neighbour Richard Hawley and Lifetime Achievement Award winners Clannad and Martin Carthy (performing with his daughter Eliza) were given a warm reception. There were also songs from Suzanne Vega (with virtuoso trumpeter Alison Balsom) and winners of the best folk song award: Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer.
Double award winners The Full English are an ensemble of top folk musicians including Seth Lakeman, Nancy Kerr, Martin Simpson and Fay Hield. They play outstanding arrangements of material drawn from the new online database of folk songs run by the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Their performance fitted well with the staged Cecil Sharp Tribute where the famous song collector was played by veteran folk musician Ashley Hutchins. He made his entry on an Edwardian bicycle, Sharp’s favoured mode of transport. Sharp’s first encounters with folk music were also recreated on stage: The Headington Quarry Morris Men in 1899 and his overhearing of The Seeds Of Love in 1903, sung by gardener John England.
The Fisherman’s Friends were given a standing ovation as they took the stage for their first performance since singer Trevor Grills and tour manager Paul McMullen were killed in a tragic accident in Guildford.
The show ended with a tribute to recently deceased folk legend Pete Seeger. His sister Peggy Seeger led an impressive assemblage of folk musicians and the audience in a sing-along of Pete Seeger’s song Quite Early Morning; a fitting commemoration to a man who did so much to promote and popularise folk music.
Award winners
Folk singer of the year - Bella Hardy
Musician of the year - Aidan O’Rourke
Best album - The Full English by The Full English
Best group - The Full English
Best duo - Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin
Best original song - Two Ravens by Lisa Knapp
Best traditional track - Willie Of Winsbury by Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer
Horizon award - Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar
Young folk award - The Mischa MacPherson Trio
Achievement awards
Lifetime achievement award - Clannad
Lifetime achievement award - Martin Carthy
Good tradition award - Cambridge Folk Festival
