In a ceremony on 7 December at Aberdeen Music Hall, the winners of the 2019 MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards were announced. 

The event, which was broadcast live on BBC Alba, was presented by singers Mary Ann Kennedy and Kim Carnie and featured live performances from Skerryvore, Session A9, Benedict Morris, Heisk and Sian. 

Folk guitarist Jenn Butterworth was awarded Musician of the Year, while Album of the Year Award was presented to folk band Breabach for their sixth album Frenzy of the Meeting. The Belhaven Bursary for Innovation in Scottish Music, worth  £25,000, went to Glasgow group the Kinnaris Quintet. 

Gaelic Singer of the Year was awarded to Mary Ann Kennedy, while Jeanna Reid won Composer of the Year and folk group Blazin’ Fiddles (which features Reid as a member) were awarded Folk Band of the Year. 

The award for Event of the Year went to Tiree Music Festival and emerging artist Man of the Minch was awarded Up and Coming Artist of the Year. Three-piece Peat and Diesel picked up the award for Live Act of the Year and Sutherland Sessions, a newly formed organisation for young musicians, was awarded Club of the Year. The Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year award went to Steve Byrne. 

Listen back to the ceremony here. For the full list of nominees and winners, see below.

For more, visit projects.handsupfortrad.scot/handsupfortrad/.

MG Alba Scots Trad Music Award – Winners 2019

Album of the Year – sponsored by Birnam CD
1. Beyond – Talisk
2. Drawn From Deep Water – Gnoss
3. Free One – Kinnaris Quintet
4. Frenzy of the Meeting – Breabach (winner)
5. Laws of Motion – Karine Polwart, Steven Polwart & Inge Thomson
6. Mercury – Siobhan Miller
7. Neath the Gloaming Star – Hannah Rarity
8. Steer By The Stars – Spikiness’
9. The Reeling – Brìghde Chaimbeul
10. What Makes You – Elephant Sessions

Belhaven Bursary for Innovation
1. Breabach
2. Kinnaris Quintet (winner)
3. Lau
4. Niteworks
5. Ross Ainslie
6. Rura
7. Karine Polwart
8. Project Smok
9. Fara
10. Treacherous Orchestra

Club of the Year – sponsored by Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland (TRACS)
1. Largs Folk Nights
2. Sutherland Sessions (winner)
3. Button and Bows Accordion and Fiddle club
4. Montrose Folk Club

Composer of the Year – sponsored by PRS for Music
1. Catriona Hawksworth
2. Hayley Keenan
3. Jenna Reid (winner)
4. Mischa MacPherson

Community Project of the Year
1. Blazin’ in Beauly
2. Kin in the community
3. SEALL Festival of Small Halls held on Skye last November (winner)
4. Bogha Frois

Event of the Year – sponsored by VisitScotland
1. Scotland at Lorient - Fèis Rois
2. Tiree Music Festival (winner)
3. Alba Choir at Eurovision
4. Under Canvas in partnership with Eden Court

Gaelic Singer of the Year – sponsored by The Highland Society of London
1. Brian O’Headra
2. Ceitlin Lilidh
3. Kim Carnie
4. Mary Ann Kennedy (winner)

Musician of the Year – sponsored by The University of the Highlands and Islands
1. Adam Sutherland
2. Jenn Butterworth (winner)
3. Paul Anderson
4. Ross B Wilson
5. Signy Jakobsdottir
6. Tom Oakes

Live Act of the Year – sponsored by Greentrax Recordings
1. Peat and Diesel (winner)
2. Rura
3. Talisk
4. Fara
5. The Outside Track

Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year – sponsored by Traditional Music and Song Association Award
1. Amy Papiransky
2. Dougie Mackenzie
3. Steve Byrne (winner)
4. Fiona Ross

Scottish Dance Band of the Year – sponsored by National Association of Accordion and Fiddle Clubs
1. The Cruickshank Family Band (winner)
2. Ewan Galloway Scottish Dance Band
3. Gary Sutherland Scottish Dance Band
4. Scott Band Scottish Dance Band

Scottish Folk Band of the Year – sponsored by Threads of Sound
1. Blazin Fiddles (winner)
2. Dallahan
3. Iona Fyfe Trio
4. Tannahill Weavers

Scottish Pipe Band of the Year – sponsored by the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust
1. Renfrewshire Schools Pipe Band
2. Inveraray and District Pipe Band (winner)
3. Closkelt Pipe Band
4. Dollar Academy

Trad Video of the Year
1. Fair Weather Beggar by Claire Hastings
2. Heroes – Tide Lines (winner)
3. Hope in the Chaos by Ross Ainslie and Malcolm Jones
4. Playlist East West by Shooglenifty featuring Tanxugueiras

Music Tutor of the Year – sponsored by Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative
1. Claire Gullan
2. Iain Ruari Finlayson, Skye Schools (winner)
3. Ingrid Henderson
4. Louise Hunter
5. Sharon Hassan

Up and Coming Artist of the Year – sponsored by Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
1. Calum Jones and the trad project
2. Dlù
3. Hecla
4. Man of the Minch (winner)

Venue of the Year – sponsored by Musicians’ Union
1. An Tobar (Mull) (winner)
2. Soundhouse at the Traverse (Edinburgh)
3. St Margaret’s Braemar
4. The String Cafe (Lerwick)

The Hamish Henderson Services to Traditional Music Award Sponsored by Edinburgh Folk Club
Dr Peter Cooke

Services to Gaelic Sponsored by Bòrd na Gàidhlig
Anne Souter

The Janet Paisley Services to Scots Language Sponsored by Scots Radio
Sheena Blackhall