Music
12 Nov 20

RTÉ announces shortlist for Radio 1 Folk Awards

RTÉ also revealed that Irish folk legend, Steve Cooney, as this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The shortlist for the upcoming RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards have been announced. The awards will take place on November 26th, celebrating their third year. Categories include Folk Singer of the Year, Best Folk Album of the Year, Best Original Folk Track of the Year, Best Traditional Folk of the Year, Best Folk Group of the Year, Folk Instrumentalist of the Year and the Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, a performer will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The recipient of this year's Lifetime Achievement Award is Steve Cooney, who has been a towering presence in Irish Music since he arrived here from Australia in 1980. From his first gigs with Stockton’s Wing to his musical relationships with Séamus Begley, Martin Hayes, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Altan, Sharon Shannon, Mary Black and so many others his unique style of guitar playing is always instantly recognisable. Through his playing with Seamus Begley in the 1990s in West Kerry he developed a new style of guitar accompaniment for Irish dance music which, powerfully showcased the pulse and nuance of the music and influenced a future generation of guitar players.

Take a look at the full shortlist below.

Best Folk Instrumentalist

Steve Cooney
Martin Hayes
Caroline Keane
Ryan Molloy
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh

Best Folk Singer

Mick Flannery
Emma Langford
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh
Radie Peat

Best Folk Album

Ceol Ársa Cláirsí: Tunes of the Irish Harpers for Solo Guitar – Steve Cooney
Hemet – Níamh Regan
So Ends This Day – Eilís Kennedy
The Livelong Day – Lankum

Best Folk Group

Lankum
Navá
Saint Sister
The Bonny Men
The Lost Brothers

Best Original Track of the Year

Baby Talk - Mick Flannery & SON
Dynamite – Saint Sister
Flow in the Year of Wu Wei – Brian Finnegan
The Beauty Of Everyday Things - Luka Bloom
The Young People – Lankum

Best Traditional Track of the Year

Eleanor Plunkett – Steve Cooney
O’Neill’s March - Martin Hayes & Brooklyn Ryder
Port na bPúcaí - Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh
Tabhair Dom do Lámh – Steve Cooney
The Broken Pledge - The Bonny Men
The Pride of Petravore – Lankum
The Old Maids of Galway - Liam Flanagan & Claire O’Loughlin
The Wild Rover – Lankum