BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards


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.
Award recipients have included Joan Baez, Cat Stevens, John Martyn, Steve Earle, The Dubliners, Martin Carthy, Billy Bragg, Shirley Collins, Kate Rusby, Cara Dillon, Eliza Carthy, Bellowhead, June Tabor, Oysterband, Aly Bain, Richard Thompson, Nancy Kerr, Seth Lakeman, Show of Hands, Lau, Tom Paxton, Don McLean, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Nic Jones, Bella Hardy, Rhiannon Giddens, Norma Waterson, The Chieftains, Joan Armatrading and James Taylor.

History

The awards are managed by independent production company Smooth Operations, now part of 7digital. Kellie While of Smooth Operations has stated that the idea of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards was conceived by the company in 1999, inspired by the Country Music Awards, and brought to the BBC, and The Guardian has attributed their creation to John Leonard, who formed Smooth Operations in 1995.
The awards event has been staged in different regions of the United Kingdom, including The Brewery in London, The Lowry theatre in Salford, the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall during the 2013 Celtic Connections festival, the Bridgewater Hall during the 2019 Manchester Folk Festival, the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff in 2015,
and the Belfast Waterfront in 2018.
In 2014, 2016 and 2017, the event was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Reviewing the 2014 Royal Albert Hall event, Colin Irwin remarked on how much more glamorous it had become since the first event fifteen years earlier.
Between 2000 and 2012 the Folk Awards were hosted by Mike Harding, and broadcast on BBC Radio 2. Mark Radcliffe and Scottish Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis took over presenting the ceremony in 2013. In 2004 the awards were shown on television for the first time, on BBC Four. The event has been streamed live in audio and video on the BBC Radio 2 website, the BBC iPlayer and/or the BBC Red Button TV service.
The BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award has been included in the award event since 2011, having previously been awarded in a separate ceremony, but its selection process remains independent.
In 2016, Rhiannon Giddens became the first non-British winner of the 'Folk Singer of the Year' award.
In 2020, there was no award ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Selection

The controlling body is the Folk Awards Committee, comprising two BBC staff, two from the production company 7digital Creative, and one external expert. Two Nominated Representatives, one from 7digital and one from the BBC oversee the process. The Folk Awards Committee selects a panel of 150 representatives from the British folk world, including broadcasters, journalists, record producers, festival organisers, venue bookers, record company directors, agents and promoters. The panellists vary slightly from year to year, with new panellists being invited each year.
The nominations in most categories are made by the panel. The four most-nominated artists go through to the second round. The winner is then selected from the nominees by a second vote among the same panellists. Since 2013, following criticism of the lack of transparency of the selection process, there have been some exceptions to this general process. The second round of the "Best Album" category is determined by a public vote, hosted on the BBC website. The two track categories, "Best Original Track" and "Best Traditional Track" were removed from the main panel. They are now voted by a much smaller specialist panel of judges, appointed by the Folk Awards committee, whose identities are published.
Broader categories, including the "Lifetime Achievement Award" and the "Good Tradition Award" are chosen by two rounds of votes by the Folk Awards committee only. These may not be awarded every year.
The BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award, although presented at the Folk Awards ceremony since 2011, has its own independent selection process.
The selection process has been the subject of criticism, with accusations of bias, cronyism, and lack of transparency. In 2012 The Independent reported that there had been at least two Freedom of Information requests to identify the panellists, which have been rejected by the BBC. The BBC and 7digital have responded that the panellists are kept secret to avoid lobbying and bribery.

Compilation album

A Folk Awards double-album, featuring music by most of the nominees, was released annually by the event's producers in collaboration with BBC Radio 2 and the record label and distribution company, Proper Music.

Hall of Fame

In 2014, a posthumous award was introduced to celebrate the contribution of significant figures in folk music's past.

2019

Presenter Mark Radcliffe was also presented with a special Folk Award to celebrate his 40 years in radio.
Venue: Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

2018

  • Folk Singer of the Year: Karine Polwart
  • Best Duo: Chris Stout & Catriona McKay
  • Best Group: Lankum
  • Best Album: Strangers - The Young'uns
  • Horizon Award: Ímar
  • Musician of the Year: Mohsen Amini
  • Young Folk Award: Mera Royle
  • Best Original Song: The Granite Gaze - Lankum
  • Best Traditional Track: Banks of Newfoundland - Siobhan Miller
  • Lifetime Achievement Award: Dónal Lunny
  • Hall of Fame: Nick Drake
  • Good Tradition: Armagh Pipers Club
Venue: Belfast Waterfront

2017

  • Folk Singer of the Year: Kris Drever
  • Best Duo: Ross Ainslie & Ali Hutton
  • Best Group: The Furrow Collective
  • Best Album: Songs of Separation - Songs of Separation
  • Horizon Award: Daoirí Farrell
  • Musician of the Year: Rachel Newton
  • Young Folk Award: Josie Duncan & Pablo Lafuente
  • Best Original Song: If Wishes Were Horses - Kris Drever
  • Best Traditional Track: Van Diemen's Land - Daoirí Farrell
  • Lifetime Achievement Awards: Al Stewart and Ry Cooder
  • Hall of Fame: Woody Guthrie
Venue: Royal Albert Hall, London

2016

  • Folk Singer of the Year: Rhiannon Giddens
  • Best Duo: Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman
  • Best Group: The Young'uns
  • Best Album: Mount the Air - The Unthanks
  • Horizon Award: Sam Kelly
  • Musician of the Year: Andy Cutting
  • Young Folk Award: Brìghde Chaimbeul
  • Best Original Song: Mackerel - The Rheingans Sisters
  • Best Traditional Track: Lovely Molly - Sam Lee
  • Lifetime Achievement Awards: Joan Armatrading and Norma Waterson
  • Good Tradition Award: John McCusker
  • Hall of Fame: Sandy Denny
Venue: Royal Albert Hall, London

2015

  • Folk Singer of the Year: Nancy Kerr
  • Best Duo: Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker
  • Best Group: The Young'uns
  • Best Album: Tincian - 9Bach
  • Horizon Award: The Rails
  • Musician of the Year: Sam Sweeney
  • Young Folk Award: Talisk
  • Best Original Song: Swim to the Star - Peggy Seeger/Calum MacColl
  • Best Traditional Track: Samhradh Samhradh - The Gloaming
  • Lifetime Achievement Awards: Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens and Loudon Wainwright III
  • Good Tradition Award: Meredydd Evans
  • Hall of Fame: Ewan MacColl
Venue: Millennium Centre, Cardiff

2014

  • Folk Singer of the Year: Bella Hardy
  • Best Duo: Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin
  • Best Group: The Full English
  • Best Album: The Full English - The Full English
  • Horizon Award: Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar
  • Musician of the Year: Aidan O'Rourke
  • Young Folk Award: The Mischa Macpherson Trio
  • Best Original Song: Two Ravens - Lisa Knapp
  • Best Traditional Track: Willie of Winsbury - Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer
  • Lifetime Achievement Awards: Clannad and Martin Carthy
  • Good Tradition Award: Cambridge Folk Festival
  • Hall of Fame: Cecil Sharp
Venue: Royal Albert Hall, London

2013

  • Folk singer of the year: Nic Jones
  • Best Duo: Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman
  • Best Group: Lau
  • Best Album: Broadside - Bellowhead
  • Horizon Award: Blair Dunlop
  • Musician of the year: Kathryn Tickell
  • Young Folk Award: Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar
  • Best Original Song: Hatchlings - Emily Portman
  • Best Traditional Track: Lord Douglas - Jim Moray
  • Lifetime achievement awards: Aly Bain and Roy Harper
  • Lifetime achievement award for contribution to songwriting: Dougie MacLean
  • Roots Award: Billy Bragg
Venue: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall