Daoirí Farrell Wins Two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

Daoiri Farrell at the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Daoirí Farrell Wins Two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

Unprecedented success for an Irish solo artist.

Dublin folk-singer Daoirí Farrell has achieved unprecedented success for a solo Irish artist at the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, winning two awards, the Horizon Award for a new artist, and Best Traditional Track for ‘Van Diemen’s Land’. Farrell was also nominated for Folk Singer of the Year. The awards ceremony took place last night (Wednesday 5 April) at the Royal Albert Hall.

Listen back to Farrell’s winning performance below. He was accompanied by Tony Byrne (guitar), Robbie Walsh (bodhrán), Alec Brown (cello), Paddy Kiernan (banjo) and Pat Daly (fiddle). 

Farrell released his debut album The First Turn in 2009, while he was a student of the Ceoltóir course in Ballyfermot College of Further Education. He subsequently studied traditional music and performance at the University of Limerick. His most recent album, True Born Irishman, was released to acclaim in October 2016 and includes ‘Van Diemen’s Land’.

Previous Irish winners of BBC Folk Awards include The Gloaming, Clannad, The Dubliners, Paul Brady, Christy Moore and Martin Hayes. In 2004, Danú won two awards for Best Group and Best Original Song, but no solo Irish artist has won two awards in one year before. The awards were established in 2000.

The full list of 2017 winners is as follows:
Best Duo: Ross Ainslie & Ali Hutton
Best Traditional Track: Van Diemen’s Land by Daoirí Farrell
Musician of the Year: Rachel Newton
Lifetime Achievement Award: Ry Cooder
Hall of Fame: Woody Guthrie
Horizon Award: Daoirí Farrell
Best Group: The Furrow Collective
BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award: Josie Duncan & Pablo Lafuente
Best Original Track: If Wishes Were Horses by Kris Drever
Lifetime Achievement Award: Al Stewart
Best Album: Songs of Separation – Songs of Separation
Folk Singer of the Year: Kris Drever

For more, see the performances below, or visit https://goo.gl/wn2pv8

Overview: 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

Jim Moray

Shirley Collins

Ry Cooder

The Ballads of Child Migration

Al Stewart

Billy Bragg

Fara

Afro Celt Sound System

 

For more on Daoirí Farrell, visit http://daoiri.com/

Published on 6 April 2017

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