Category: Radio 2
Date: 28.10.2005
Printable version
The six British folk acts who will compete for the coveted 2006 91Èȱ¬ Radio 2 Young Folk Award at The Sage, Gateshead, on Friday 9 December have been announced.
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This year's talented line-up includes the Scottish six piece ensemble Fiddle Dee Fiddle Dum; a Newcastle-based collective called Southwind; a Cumbrian melodeon player; a 16-year old girl from Aberdeenshire with a fondness for Doric language songs; an 18-year-old guitarist from Lincolnshire; and a fiddler inspired by AC/DC.
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The competition, now in its seventh year, is a nationwide search for the most gifted youngsters playing folk and traditional music.
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The six shortlisted musicians will compete to record a session for The Mike Harding Show, which broadcasts every Wednesday on Radio 2 at 8.00pm, and a high-profile slot at the Cambridge Folk Festival.
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The semi-finals were hosted by Mike Harding at The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, on Wednesday 26 October.
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Mike says of the competition: "We are extremely proud of this event and to be bringing youngsters, playing the traditional music of these islands, to the forefront.
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"The standard of the musicianship was the highest yet - it just gets better and better every year. If you close your eyes it would be difficult to believe these performers were aged only between 15 and 20."
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Highlights of the Radio 2 Young Folk Awards Final will broadcast on The Mike Harding Show on Wednesday 14 December.
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Notes to Editors
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The full prize is a specially-recorded session for The Mike Harding Show, slots at both the Cambridge Folk and Towsley Village Festivals, and a year's free membership of the Musicians' Union.
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The six finalists are Joe O'Connor, Shona Donaldson, Southwind, James Chadwick, Matthew Watson, and Fiddle Dee Dum.
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Further details:
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Joe O'Connor is 16 and has been playing the melodeon for five years. He started playing through a Folkworks scheme at school, being taught by fellow Cumbrian Mike Willoughby.
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He has since gone on to perform in his school Ceilidh band and was part of the 'Road to the North' tour with Folkestra earlier this year, playing alongside the Kathryn Tickell Band, Alistair Anderson and Louis Killen, as well as the Old Rope String Band.
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His musical influences include Julian Sutton, Andy Cutting, Sharon Shannon, 422 and the Old Rope String Band, along with the Unusual Suspects and Jools Holland.
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Sixteen-year-old Shona Donaldson hails from Aberdeenshire, and has been singing for about six years. Coming from a musical background, Shona has competed in local fiddle competitions and Doric poetry competitions for many years, and was inspired to start singing when she saw others enjoying it at the competitions.
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She is an enthusiast of Bothy Ballads, is particularly interested in Doric language and songs, and her major influences are Jock Duncan, Geordie Murison and Joe Aitken.
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She has twice been a finalist in the 91Èȱ¬ Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year and studies at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (home to the current holder of this award - Lauren MacColl).
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Southwind have only been playing together for a year in the current line-up, but they have known each other for numerous years and the band has existed in some form or another since 1998.
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When they started, all of the members were beginners on their instruments and aged only nine and ten. At one point a much larger group, many of the older players have since gone away to university and the current line-up of only six players has evolved.
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They have recently recorded their debut CD and have supported Blazin' Fiddles as well as playing at the Royal Festival Hall in London and the Tall Ships Race in Newcastle. Their main influences include Stewart Hardy, Ian Stephenson and Kathryn Tickell, as well as a number of students from the Folk and Traditional Music degree course in Newcastle.
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Eighteen-year-old James Chadwick has been playing acoustic guitar for ten years. His main inspiration when he was younger came from his father, who used to play guitar and sing to him.
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His parents also used to play tapes of Steve Knightley playing live when they were on long car journeys, which also inspired him.
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The highlight of his career so far has been playing at Strawberry Fair and since leaving school this year he is trying to make it as a full-time musician.
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Matthew Watson hails from Ross-shire, and at 15 years old is one of the youngest participants in this year's semi-final. He started playing fiddle about five years ago with the Kiltearn fiddlers and started playing whistles about two-and- a-half years ago.
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He won a coveted Danny Kyle award at Celtic Connections with the band Tassle Bandits and has participated in Donald Shaw's Harvest.
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His main influences include Brian Finnegan, Gordon Gunn, Bruce Molsky, and AC/DC.
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The final act is a six-piece ensemble from all over Scotland called Fiddle Dee Fiddle Dum. The band met at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music, Plockton, in 2004 and formed earlier this year, when the opportunity for a national tour came up.
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They come from a wide background of musical experiences, as well as a wide geographical spread, and their influences range from Julie Fowlis to Session A9, and from Martyn Bennet to Blazin' Fiddles.
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