Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Mo the caller
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 03:46 PM

Well my expertise is dance, not song. I do listen to the Folk Programme, and the nominations are a recommendation to someone who knows little.
I opened this thread hoping to learn a little more about the nominees and why they deserved it.
A local duo won a well deserved Young Folk Award a few years back - was pleased for them (and glad that they got time off school to collect it!)

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 05:10 PM

its a bit like being a lesbian - it gives some people pleasure.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: The Sandman
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 06:48 PM

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Big Al Whittle - PM
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 05:10 PM

"its a bit like being a lesbian - it gives some people pleasure."
but no good if you are a man, lesbianism is exclusive, its no fun if you are a man.
"I opened this thread hoping to learn a little more about the nominees and why they deserved it"
then you must be naive, do you expect to learn about gardening when you pick up the bible?

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 07:07 PM

Does anyone know where the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards are being presented this year? I contacted various people last year to make a case for the awards being made here in Hull to fit in with our being the UK's City of year of Culture for 2017. I got a positive initial response from the EFDSS and from the Hull-based organizers of the 2017 events, but I have heard nothing for a long time. I was hoping that having the awards made here in Hull might provide a platform for the city to celebrate the achievements of the Waterson family and some of the other great singers who lived in Hull in the 60's and 70's.But I guess the awards are to come from somewhere else?

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 12:33 AM

"its a bit like being a lesbian - it gives some people pleasure."
but no good if you are a man, lesbianism is exclusive, its no fun if you are a man.

if the last forty odd years have taught me anything - its that i've been excluded from the folk scene.

fuck   'em! i'm still alive, still make music, made a living most of my life from it. still working at my guitar playing and songwriting, still appreciated in most places as a skillful performer most times when i pick up my guitar.


so they exclude people. so what! its their call. its their football - they choose to put the goal posts where they want . live with it.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 12:39 AM

BBC AND SMOOTH OPERATIONS PRESENT BBC RADIO 2 FOLK AWARDS

Royal Albert Hall, London Wednesday 5 April 2017, Doors: 6:30pm Starts: 7:15pm

Radio 2's Folk Awards is one of the jewels in the network's musical calendar, and is now in its 18th year. Alongside the announcement of the winners by an array of guest presenters, there will also be live performances from new and established artists including Al Stewart, Afro Celt Sound System and Billy Bragg.

The event will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 and will be available online via the Radio 2 website. It will also be available to watch afterwards on the BBC iPlayer and the Red Button service.

Expect very special collaborations, and magical musical moments, from some of the most exciting artists in the folk world.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 03:09 AM

"I contacted various people last year to make a case for the awards being made here in Hull to fit in with our being the UK's City of year of Culture for 2017."

Considering how far in advance the RAH would need to be booked I suspect that you were already a year late in making the suggestion.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: David Carter (UK)
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 09:30 AM

I agree with Allan that some of the nominees are far from obscure, in addition to his list John McSherry, is well known and well respected in many circles. Maybe its because he does other, innovative things in addition to playing traditional music that some on here are not keen.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 10:37 AM

I cannot see that anyone even on the fringes of the folk world would not have heard most of the people on there.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: akenaton
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 12:10 PM

Well we've all heard of them, but that doesn't stop them being bland and boring.....I have a huge collection of vinyl LPs from the heyday of this music, Bothy Ballads, Irish,Scottish and English Trad, Some of the better writers from the 80's and 90's, but I honestly cant get enthusiastic about any of the new generation. The guts has gone out of the music it now seems to be controlled by an elite....you've all heard them, talking shit.....they are as far away from "the people" as you can get......they haven't a fucking clue about what makes the music so special.
It just makes me sad that the "beige" is enveloping everything.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST,Morris-ey
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 12:26 PM

I don't believe the young people now carrying on the tradition really give a fuck about what old farts think - not least because the old farts will be dead and forgotten soon enough.

It is sour grapes really, is it not? Well, I was never nominated for any award so it must be crap? Yeah, right.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST,John from Kemsing
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 12:51 PM

Picking up on Mo the Callers post,I`m missing something, I see no nominations for ceilidh bands, step/clog dancers or Morris sides who all are vital to the "Folk" world!

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Will Fly
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 12:53 PM

I'm afraid, Morris-ey, that I regard your summing up of the scene as very silly and superficial.

If you think that age is an indicator of vitality, vigour, enthusiasm, professionalism, skill, modernity, etc., etc., you're beating a path to nowhere.

As for your sour grapes theory - my arse! It's not a question of whether these awards and their ceremonies, or any other awards, are crap or not - it's that, however "worthy" they aim to be, I genuinely think such things just don't count for much in the end.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 01:06 PM

in the end....who can tell. even with Trump in charge ....the end may not be insight!

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 02:17 PM

Is the folk world not big and inclusive enough to house both the down to earth weekly folk club with their residents and jobbing singers as well as the glitz of the awards and famous names? Does anyone on here really think that the rock and pop world is all big names and fame? I reckon for every big name in any genre there are thousands who are just like the floor singers at your local club. It is only the famous who get noticed and purely on that score it has to be a good thing to give the folk world the kind of platform that everyone sees. In my opinion of course.

DtG

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: akenaton
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 03:36 PM

This music whether trad or contemporary is supposed to be about emotion, it is supposed to instil emotion in the audience, be it a house of hundreds or person to person......I have seen performers bring a rowdy hall to absolute silence just by striking their guitar strings for an intro.....these people were legends adored by the folk public yet thought nothing of sitting in the bar chatting or going on bender with the locals. They loved to get the audience involved, I know its a cliché, but the hair really did stand up on the back of your neck.......The produce of the folk academies and the awards circuit couldn't provoke emotion in a nursing mother, it's just a sound an interminable drone fast or slow......they haven't lived it.
You've got to have lived it or lived among it to really understand it. The highlight of my young life was the weekly village concert under the oil lamps, all that could sing or play contributed, we were all half starved and worn out by back breaking work, but the music was the glue that bonded us together.    Gone forever!

Now folk music is the preserve of the urban elite they are getting the music they deserve.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST,DTM
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 04:04 PM

"I don't believe the young people now carrying on the tradition really give a fuck about what old farts think - not least because the old farts will be dead and forgotten soon enough."

An ideal place to start .... if the plan is to re-invent the wheel. ;-)

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: akenaton
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 04:05 PM

To Morris-ey I would say that the songs and tunes that fuelled the revival incorporated to a large extent the lives and deeds of men and women long dead but not forgotten ....there has to be an historical dimension to folk music or it becomes only another branch of the entertainment industry.

I'm well over 70 but the stuff being produced today under the guise of folk music will be forgotten before I finally lay down my tools.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 04:09 PM

Now folk music is the preserve of the urban elite

I think you've missed 'neoliberal' from your stereotypical characterisation. Try doing some further listening, eh?

As for "the highlight of my young life" that you mention, you simply remind me of Tony Capstick

We'd lots o' things in them days they 'aven't got today - rickets, diptheria, Hitler...

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 04:56 PM

i can't see that it matters.

its obviously creating a degree of ill feeling. i really can't see irs worth getting worked up about. its horses for courses.

some horses aren't welcome on this course. it still leaves us the world to gambol in - and that's pretty good.

why would you want to go where you're not welcome?

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Allan Conn
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 06:59 PM

Seems to me that there is plenty of younger performers out there but there seems to be a real rift between younger performers and the folk clubs as such. Which is maybe not surprising considering some of the negative attitudes on here. Had a quick look and for instance The Furrow Collective had 15 gigs coming up in the months ahead but none are at folk clubs as such. Three are at folk festivals and the rest are at other venue types. Alasdair Roberts has 17 gigs coming up with only one (Bodmin Folk Club) which is actually at a folk club. Daori Farrell has 17 gigs coming up and again only one (Roots Music Club Doncaster) is at a club. Kris Drever has 7 gigs coming up and only one (Milngavie Folk Club) is at a club. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe a mixture of clubs not wanting these upstarts or maybe the performers maybe not wanting to play to what they may perceive as a predominantly old audience. Or more likely it is just the way things have panned out. Things change.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Capo da Monty
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 08:13 PM

Great to see Ninebarrow in the nominations for the Horizon Award.
They have been bringing their music to folk clubs and other venues around the UK and seem genuinely excited to be included.
I wish them well.
CdM

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST,Nick Dow
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 08:26 PM

I have had nothing but respect and thanks from the younger singers I have met. One or two have taken songs from me (and credited me) and one has won a folk award with three songs from my early vinyl recordings on his Cd's.
I would like to think I have a good relationship with all of them.
I had a very special (to me) moment when Martyn Wyndham Read invited me on guitar and Cohen (Granny's Attic)on concertina on stage with him at the Grove Folk Club Leeds. Martyn Sang the Banks of Claudy. All three generations playing together! How special was that?
I really feel the music is safe in their hands, and I am genuinely excited for the future, and if this old voice of mine gives out in the next decade or so, I will hand over the flag with a good heart.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: akenaton
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 03:18 AM

Allan...."Things change"   I agree, these young performers have come up with a new genre......certainly not "folk music".

It is a genre without depth based on a search for a marketable sound.

I heard one modern darling saying how her music contains "filmic tones".......a new level in pretentiousness?

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Will Fly
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 03:46 AM

Strange how this thread has morphed from being about the folk awards, and their value or otherwise, into an argument about age and young and old performers. What on earth has the age of a performer got to do with any of this?

I would have thought it was clear from my and Vic's description of a recent Brighton session that it is not an issue - and to make it so is just creating a false battleground.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Allan Conn
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 04:31 AM

Will you stated that you just didn't believe in awards which is fair enough and a valid point to make. But others have actually criticised the recipients of the awards. Too obscure. College elites. And now they seemingly aren't even really folk artists at all. I think all these points are unfair!
I listed the gig stats because it does seem that these acts don't tend to play folk clubs that often. That maybe explains why some have never heard of them and it does suggest that there is a bit of a generational shift.
They are not all music college graduates – but even if they are it does not mean they weren't already immersed in their local folk scene.
And here is a few vids of some of the acts I have mentioned and are recipients. They may not be to everyone's liking but can anyone suitably explain why it is not folk music??




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjRwzEolrCc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05-ZoPfhrDQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-UwyyuMFEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq0htznRMMY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkERtyGnOtA

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Will Fly
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 05:37 AM

All good stuff there, Allan - very good music indeed. I particularly liked Kris Drever and Boo Hewerdine. Nothing whatsoever to fault or dislike.

One of the problems that some conventional folk clubs - as opposed to festivals - might have in booking some good contemporary acts is the actual cost of paying the artists. I don't know what fees full-time musicians charge these days - knowing that they have to pay the rent, etc. When I was on the road full-time for a spell - back in the early '80s (playing in a 3-piece band) - we earned enough playing 3 or 4 nights a week to get by. But that wasn't in folk clubs, it was in Trades & Labour Clubs, Legions, WMCs, etc. Playing to anything from 50 to 200 people at a time. The most lucrative stuff I do these days is weddings, birthdays and other functions in a ceilidh band - but I would have to be playing 5 nights a week to earn a living from it. Luckily, I don't have to do that.

Most pubs and clubs pay me and my guitar partner around £100 for an evening's entertainment - sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on how the gig is financed - and we do something like two 40-minute spots or equivalent. Can artists gigging full-time subsist on that? Probably not without other sources of income.

Festivals are on a bigger stage, attract crowds of people and can bring in more cash and publicity. I personally don't care for festivals, but they're immensely popular.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Vic Smith
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 07:30 AM

Will Fly wrote:-
"I would have thought it was clear from my and Vic's description of a recent Brighton session that it is not an issue - and to make it so is just creating a false battleground. "

I would have thought that the point is self evident but let's spell it out:-

* There are some excellent performers on the folk scene and elsewhere, others who are fairly ordinary and some who are pretty dire and always will be. Age does not come into who falls into each category.

* There are some performers inside the folk scene who put a great deal into their performances and delight in what both they and those they admire achieve. There are others who are only concerned with themselves and they become embittered because they think they have not been given the recognition that they feel they deserve. Age does not come into who falls into each category.

* There are some older performers and enthusiasts who think that the young performers lack soul and are too concerned with presentation etc. and miss the point of the music. There are younger performers and others who want to tell those who have been performing for several decades that they know nothing and dismiss them as "old farts" - see above. Both these groups are wrong in their outlook.

I first started going to folk clubs I was still at school. Soon after leaving school I started my own folk club. I met and booked the likes of Packie Byrne, Belle Stewart, Jane Turriff, Bob Copper. I got to know all these people as friends even though they were old enough to be my grandparents. Now I am in my mid-seventies and have watched the likes of Jim Causley, Matt Quinn, the Askews grow up and develop as performers. They are young enough to be my grandchildren yet we always make time to chat to one another when we meet; I have even done quite a number of gigs with Matt.

I could go on but other points would be of a similar nature and would want to emphasise all POSITIVITY in people and regret all NEGATIVITY.
I am not one for quoting sayings or aphorisms but one that I frequently trot out is one that I have heard attributed to John Brunner, William Ralph or as I first heard it attributed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau

There are two kinds of fools. One says, "This is old, and therefore good." And one says, " This is new, and therefore better."

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: The Sandman
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 01:28 PM

None of the above alters my opinion that Folk Awards are a mistake, regardless of who gets an award.
I have heard some good young performers, the way to improve and maintain standards is at grass root level, through workshops,or lessons.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 01:57 PM

from reading the thread, i don't think the situation bears much analyses.

there are some people happy as sandboys with the present situation.

there are some who aren't.

i couldn't pretend to know which lot are right.

i suppose i straddle the two points of view.

i'm glad for the people on the happy chappies list that they've a scene going.

i sympathise with those on the outside and think the folk tradition is weaker for their exclusion.

of course what both parties forget is that the tradition will adapt and survive and the demotic music of England will develop inspite of their efforts to affect its progress.

the folk music scene is a tiny determinant on how the common people express themselves musically.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 01:19 AM

"i sympathise with those on the outside and think the folk tradition is weaker for their exclusion.

of course what both parties forget is that the tradition will adapt and survive and the demotic music of England will develop inspite of their efforts to affect its progress."
   no no non, we have a responsibilty to try and make sure the music is kept strong and survives and is of a good standard the way to do that is at grass roots level through workshops and tuition, it is not through having awards.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 01:39 AM

Like it or not, the future of folk music is in the hands of young people.

Unless we encourage them, it will slowly disappear.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 04:06 AM

IMO,
Performance Encouragement for anyone of any age is best done through tuition and workshops.
how do awards encourage people and encourage higher standards for those who want to play music as an amateur? how do awards encourage people who do it either for a living or on a semi pro basis?,most pros and particularly semi pros carry on getting gigs regardless, these awards are not relevant for the majority of semi pro or pro performers.it is possible they may impress some people who are not performers.
how useful is that? will it help raise the overall standard of performance in this genre? what is the purpose of these awards?. do they provide income for the organisers?
What are the reasons for these awards?
do these awards encourage MANY PERFORMERS?
or do they just encourage those that win the awards[ who are of course a tiny proportion of the overall performers working on the uk folk scene].
I think more amateur performers and semi pros and even pros are encouraged in their playing by videos on you tube .
WILL FLY, channel is a good example, of how to raise competence levels.
I have found other videos and particularly PETE SEEGERS rainbow quest ILLUMINATING INTERESTING AND HELPFUL.
   One of the more useful things imo "as regards raising competence levels" the BBC ever did for folk music was Hold Down A Chord.
    now of course the BBC are less concerned about musical education but more about viewing numbers, none of which imo has anything to do with maintaining musical standards in the folk genre.
It uses the idea of a star system, which in my opinion is unhealthy, and belongs in the pop music world.
So the organisers of The BBC Folk Awards wish to make money, promote themselves and promote a few performers, BBC wish to increase their viewing audience, that is what these awards are about, Commercialising Folk Music and making money.
it is necessary IMO be Honest about this.   
These awards will promote avery snall proportion of artists, they will help BBC viewing, and provide money for the promoters, on the plus side they might introduce a few new people to the GENRE., but at the same time how many of those new people will become performers?
more likely IMO they WILL think that this music is NOT about home grown music, but about Folk Stars., about promotion and many of the things we see in the Pop Music Industry
However it is my honest opinion that this is not the best approach to introducing new people to the genre, in my opinion it is more important to help EVERYONE to keep the music to high standards in the other ways I suggested earlier.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 04:09 AM

The future of folk music is in the hands of everyone regardless of age.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST,Nick Dow
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 06:52 AM

Dick has said in one line what it took me three paragraphs to say.
(So no change there then!)

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST,Mike Daniels
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 09:46 AM

GSSchweik's view seems unnecessarily prescriptive/restrictive. There are many ways in which to enthuse/encourage/assist participants/performers of all ages re making music.

Workshops/Tuition is fine but may not necessarily be the preferred route for all.

It's probably best to see the R2 Awards as a celebration of the scene and its performers. I don't see them as a competition per se and they perform a valuable service in encouraging performers and bringing Folk music to a wider audience.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 10:20 AM

I still don't see why we cannot have workshops, tuition, folk clubs. floor singers, mega stars, concerts, awards and everything in between. None of them are mutually exclusive.

DtG

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 10:24 AM

" I don't see them as a competition per se and they perform a valuable service in encouraging performers and bringing Folk music to a wider audience.
can you give me of examples of performers they have encouraged other than past winners?
There are MANY other ways of bringing Folk Music to a wider audience, In Ireland it is done by inclusion of traditional music on mainstream national radio and television programmes ON A WEEKLY AND DAILY BASIS., without the showbiz element of awards.
Morris dancing is a way that folk music is brought to a wider audiences in the past, Maritime festivals have also acheived this by appealing to people who are involved in maritime hobbies or who may work at sea and who then develop an interest in associated Music.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 10:33 AM

Again, why not just have everything? As I said, it is not a question of Awards OR something. It is Awards AND something. Surely the maxim must be the more the merrier?

DtG

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Allan Conn
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 10:48 AM

In Ireland they have music awards too though. Whether you believe in awards or not it is simply incorrect to somehow suggest that British Folk music having awards is unusual. It would be more unusual not to have them. The Irish have traditional music awards broadcast just in a few days time on 19th Feb. See link below.

Don't most forms of art have them? Not just popular music but classical music too; and film and TV; and theatre; and literature both prose and poetry; and of course art itself; and away from the arts in general even science etc has awards.

And I think we would all agree that it would be better if folk music was given more general coverage - but I can't see how getting rid of the one thing that does give it a bit coverage would help with that! In every field of art the awards are newsworthy stories to at least some degree. Whether it is the Oscars, the Booker Price, the Turner Prize etc etc.

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/the-best-of-traditional-music-2016-tg4-gradam-ceoil-award-winners-announced-1.2898009

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 11:00 AM

Spot on, Allan.

Thanks

DtG

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 11:44 AM

can you answer my question,thankyou?
my point is that There are better ways to give folk music coverage and that giving it that sort of coverage is not as important as improving standards at grass root level.
If I took your argument and extrapolated it to an extreme, that any coverage is necessary,it could be argued why not give folk music as coverage between tooth paste advertisements.
John Manifold, Australian Folk song collector said and I quote "Folk song does not belong between toothpaste advertisements".
If you think it does,or you think these Radio awards are necessary we must agree to disagree.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 01:03 PM

What is your question, Dick? There were a number a couple of posts ago and I don't propose to answer them all.

To come back on your last point above, folk song has been used in many adverts including a concertina playing fisherman. For Youngs fish products I think. I do not know if it ever appeared before or after an advert for Colgate but chances are it did at one time. I for one have never said the awards,(be they Radio or TV) were necessary but I cannot think of a reason not to hold them. Can you?

DtG

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 01:04 PM

Thanks to Freddy Headey for spelling out how the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards work: different system in Scotland for the MG ALBA Trad Awards, where ANYONE with any interest in folk music (and the various other categories) can submit nominations so long as they do it on the correct form, which is easily obtainable from the Hands Up for Trad website.
And Mo, we DO have a category for "Best dance band" - as well as other for "Best Pipe band", "Best tutor", "Biggest contribution to Folk/Trad in the media", "Up and coming", "Best venue", "Folk Club of the Year", "Best Festival" and of course, "Best Gaelic Singer".
As I understand a panel sorts through all the nominations, then issues a voting form with 4 people/bands to choose from, which again can be filled in by anyone: but at that point the hard CANVASSING of votes starts, so this is where I do start to have doubts about the validity of the awards: i.e. how many friends do you have? And no doubt some people will submit more than one voting form from different computers!

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Allan Conn
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 01:34 PM

One of the best known example of a folk performer's song getting its first real airing to a wide public by way of an advert. I'm sure Dougie wasn't somplaining

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9h558Tz1E

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 01:49 PM

Dave, since you cannot be bothered to look back a short way
"can you give me of examples of performers they have encouraged other than past winners? "adressed to allan conn.
Dougie, as i understand it fed up with incessant requests for it, much as McTELL is fed up with requests for streets of london, understandably they enjoy the financial security, but they have both written better songs and artistically as i understand would wish that some of their other songs were given as much recognition.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 02:28 PM

You asked a lot of questions, Dick. I did look back but did not spot any addressed directly to Allan. Sorry but unless you are specific in who you address your questions to we can only assume they were to anyone in general. I am unsure why you would say I cannot be bothered about something when I thought I had made a perfectly civil point. Each to his own I suppose.

Now, can you answer the question I asked? IE - Is there any good reason not to hold the folk awards? Addressed to Dick specifically but anyone can feel free to answer.

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 02:53 PM

Iasked for an answer from Allan Conn, I am still waiting
"can you give me of examples of performers they have encouraged other than past winners?
yes, I have answered that question, Dave, go back, think, and look.
if you do not understand everything I have said, then you do not understand that this is the music of people, it is not the music of tin pan alley.
I will leave you with a quote from Ewan MacColl
My function is not to reassure people. I want to make them uncomfortable. To send them out of the place arguing and talking.
Ewan MacColl

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 03:16 PM

But that is no reason not to hold awards.

Subject: RE: Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 - Nominations
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 03:52 PM

GSS - to turn your totally pointless question around :
Can you give us examples of performers who have been discouraged after watching the Radio 2 Folk Awards ?