Media release: A musical celebration of Trad Music on BBC ALBA

TO celebrate the best of Scottish traditional music, BBC ALBA will broadcast the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards across Friday and Saturday evening.

Na Trads 2020 will feature phenomenal performances from leading trad musicians and the highly-regarded annual awards give recognition to excellence; encompassing all aspects of the trad scene including Gaelic and Scots singing, instrumentation and a host of others in between.

This year, the event was set to take place in Dundee’s Caird Hall, but the vibrant celebration continues on BBC ALBA with specially recorded music performances from some of traditional music’s top luminaries, including, The Iona Fyfe Trio, Project Smok, Deirdre Graham, Jarlath Henderson, Phil Cunningham, Karen Matheson and many more.

Presented by Mary Ann Kennedy and Alistair Heather, the awards on the evening of Saturday 12th December will be presented in a new tri-lingual format in Gaelic, Scots and English to celebrate the wealth of trad culture in Scotland.

Acclaimed Gaelic singer, Mary Ann Kennedy, who herself won the Gaelic Singer of the Year award in 2019, is a stalwart of Na Trads having presented the show since the first broadcast on BBC ALBA in 2008.

New co-presenter, writer and broadcaster, Alistair Heather, is a strong advocate for the Scots language and also hosts the annual Scots Language Awards.

On Friday night, a special new programme for the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards Hall of Fame will be broadcast on BBC ALBA, hosted by Gaelic singer and broadcaster, Joy Dunlop.

Featuring performances from Old Blind Dogs and acclaimed Gaelic singer Margaret Stewart, Joy will introduce the inductees to the 2020 Hall of Fame.

Margaret Cameron, Commissioning editor and head of Creative Collaborations for BBC ALBA, said: “Na Trads is must-watch viewing for anyone with an interest in Scottish traditional culture and we’re delighted to be bringing this to our viewers yet again. There’s a real buzz around the awards which will be exclusively announced on the show.”

Ealasaid MacDonald, director of Strategy & External Affairs at MG ALBA, said: “MG ALBA are extremely proud to sponsor these awards, and we can’t wait to watch the programmes on BBC ALBA. It’s been a very difficult year for the music industry in Scotland and that’s what makes this recognition for all the impressive innovation and collaboration all the more important.”

Watch Na Trads 2020 on BBC ALBA or on the BBC iPlayer:

9pm Friday 11 December Na Trads 2020: MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame

9pm Saturday 12 December Na Trads 2020: MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards

Nominations:

1. Music Tutor of the Year, sponsored by Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative

• Rua MacMillan
• Rachel Hair
• Josie Duncan
• Lauren MacColl
• Corrina Hewat
• Laura-Beth Salter
• Louise (Mackenzie) Douglas

2. Gaelic Singer of the Year, sponsored by The Highland Society of London

• Fionnag NicChoinnich (Fiona MacKenzie)
• Joy Dunlop
• Rachel Walker
• Raymond Bremner

3. Album of The Year, sponsored by Birnam CD

• All Is Not Forgotten by Siobhan Miller
• Banjaxed by Ciaran Ryan
• Bayview by Project Smok
• Eye of the Storm by Tide Lines
• Light My Byre by Peat & Diesel
• Shhh I’m on the phone by Innes Watson
• Steall by Ewen Henderson
• The Ledger by Gillian Frame, Findlay Napier and Mike Vass
• The Roke by Ross Miller
• The Woods by Hamish Napier

4. Up and Coming artist of the Year, sponsored by Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

• Benedict Morris
• Rebecca Hill
• Malin Makes Music
• Avocet

5. Community Music Project of the Year, sponsored by Greentrax Recordings

• Campbell’s Ceilidh
• Tunes in the Hoose
• MacGregor’s Live at Five
• Hands Up for Trad Strathspey and Reel Society
• Covid Choir Workshops
• Carry On Streamin
• Comhairle Cèilidhs (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar)

6. Event of the Year Award, sponsored by VisitScotland

• 365 stories + Music (Aidan O’Rourke and James Robertson)
• Virtual Edinburgh International Harp Festival
• Fèis Rois Adult Feis Weekend Online
• Tional Gaelic Online Music Festival
• BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award 20th Anniversary Concert
(Celtic Connections)
• Coastal Connections (Celtic Connections)

7. Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year, sponsored by Traditional Music and Song Association (TMSA)

• Siobhan Miller
• Claire Hastings
• Adam Holmes
• Allan & Rosemary McMillan

8. Trad Video of the Year, sponsored by Threads of Sound

• Erica’s by Balter
• Calum Dan’s Transit Van by Peat & Diesel
• Deep Dark Beast by Twelfth Day
• Moorlough Shore by ELIR
• Ceòl Mòr Style by Calum MacCrimmon
• Taste the Rain by Tide Lines Choir

9. Online Performance of 2020, sponsored by Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust

• Sandy on Sunday Show (Sandy Brechin)
• Live from The Lounge with Paul Anderson and Shona Donaldson
• Pete Clark From The Shed
• Tide Lines Virtual World Tour
• Skerryvore Live Across The World
• Duncan Chisholm’s #CovidCeilidh
• Lomond Ceilidh Band’s The Daily Ceilidh

10. Original Work of the Year, sponsored by PRS for Music

• The Woods by Hamish Napier
• Everyday Heroes by Skerryvore
• Graham Rorie – The Orcadians of Hudson Bay
• Rachel Newton – To the Awe
• Camhanaich (Dawn) by Mhairi Hall

11. Trad Music in the Media, sponsored by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig

• Marie Martin – Box and Fiddle Magazine
• Ewan Galloway and Derek Hamilton – RadioGH
• Fiona McNeill – Celtic & Folk Fusions Radio Show
• Sruth na Maoile (BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta)
• Anna Massie – Black Isle Correspondent

12. Musician of the Year, sponsored by the University of the Highlands and Islands

• Tim Edey
• Peter Wood
• Anna Massie
• Jenn Butterworth
• Ailie Robertson
• John Carmichael

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Contact: Laura Sturrock

Email: laura@electrify.me.uk