LONDON,
UK (BBC
Radio 2) - Two pioneers of folk music, Ramblin' Jack Elliott
and Tom Paxton, will perform at this year's BBC
Radio 2 Folk Awards
ceremony on Monday 14 February at The Brewery, London.
The
awards also feature live music from
Martin Carthy, Northumbrian piper
Kathryn Tickell and five times nominated Karine Polwart as well as Eddi
Reader, Bellowhead, and Oysterband Big Session featuring June Tabor and
Show of Hands.
Steeleye Span, celebrating 35 years in the music business, will close the show.
Award
presenters include folk legend and founder member of Fairport
Convention Ashley Hutchings, Liberal Democrats Party Leader Charles
Kennedy MP,
Iron Maiden frontman and broadcaster Bruce Dickinson, Slade
front man and radio personality
Noddy Holder, Sir Gerald Kaufman MP and
folk singer turned West End star
Barbara Dickson.
Radio 2 Folk Awards producer John Leonard says: "It's a great privilege to have Ramblin' Jack and Tom Paxton at the Folk Awards.
"They
are true statesmen of the folk genre with more than a century of
musicianship between them, and each has made an enormous contribution
to folk music."
Highlights from the night, hosted by Mike
Harding and Mary Ann Kennedy, will be broadcast in a special two hour
edition of Mike's
Radio 2 show on Wednesday 16 February at 7.00pm.
Highlights can also be seen on BBC FOUR on Friday 18 February from 9.30 to 11.00pm.
More
than a hundred music industry professionals made up of broadcasters,
agents, manager, promoters and journalists voted for the finalists.
The
Radio 2 Folk Awards have honoured the best in folk, roots and acoustic
music with an annual awards ceremony since 2000, seeking to highlight
excellence in acoustic and traditional music and celebrate the vibrant
folk music scene.
Full details of the 2005 nominations, previous
winners and the history of the
Radio 2 Folk Awards can be found on
bbc.co.uk/radio2.
The BBC
Radio 2 Folk Awards are produced by Smooth Operations for
Radio 2.
