John Martyn Honoured by Radio Two
Since he emerged on the Sixties folk club scene, Martyn’s distinctive vocal style, ground-breaking use of the echoplex tape delay, emotive lyrics and fusion of musical genres including blues, jazz, ambient and electronica, have earned critical praise and a devoted fan base.
Over the years Martyn has collaborated with a wide range of musicians including Danny Thompson, Steve Winwood, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton and Paul Weller.
Shirley Collins, who has championed English song over the decades will receive a Good Tradition Award. The awards show will also feature presentations to winners in the categories of album of the year, musician of the year, best duo, best live act, best traditional track, best original song, horizon award (for the best emerging talent) and the coveted folk singer of the year, which is currently held by Seth Lakeman.
Among the performers on the night are guitarist Martin Simpson, who has been nominated in five categories; The Imagined Village (featuring Martin Carthy and Eliza Carthy); four times nominated outfit Rachel Unthank & The Winterset and three times nominated trio Lau. Held at The Brewery, Chiswell Street, London, award presenters will include KT Tunstall, Steve Harley, Lord Kinnock, Brenda Blethyn and the Magic Number’s Romeo Stodart. Highlights of the awards show will be broadcast on BBC Radio Two on Wednesday February 6 from 7.00pm in an extended edition of The Mike Harding Show.
Reports, pictures and video will be available online at bbc.co.uk/radio2/folk. The nominations follow a first round of voting by the Awards’ 170-strong panel of folk professionals, covering a broad cross section of the world of folk, roots and acoustic music. This same panel picks the winner in each category. The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and The Mike Harding Show are produced by Smooth Operations for BBC Radio 2.
Full nominations:
Folk singer of the year
Julie Fowlis
Jez Lowe
Kate Rusby
Martin Simpson
Best duo
John Tams & Barry Coope
Show of Hands
Spiers & Boden
While & Matthews
Best group
Bellowhead
Lau
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset
Tunng
Best album
Lightweights & Gentlemen (Lau)
Prodigal Son (Martin Simpson)
The Bairns (Rachel Unthank & The Winterset)
The Imagined Village (Various Artists)
Best original song
Bitter Boy (Kate Rusby)
Dad’s Gonna Kill Me (Richard Thompson)
Never Any Good (Martin Simpson)
Three Black Feathers (Bella Hardy)
Best traditional track
Andrew Lammie (Martin Simpson)
Blacksmith (Lisa Knapp)
Cold Haily Rainy Night (The Imagined Village)
John Barbury (Kate Rusby)
Horizon award
Bella Hardy
Jackie Oates
Lisa Knapp
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset
Musician of the year
Andy Cutting
John McCusker
Martin Green
Martin Simpson
Best live act
Bellowhead
Lau
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset
Show of Hands
Anonymous
Music Week
14 January 2008
