THE NEW Scottish Trad Music Awards aim to celebrate Scotland’s rich musical heritage and in doing so, create a high profile annual event to bring traditional music centre stage. The annual celebration of Scotland’s talent aims to encompass Scotland’s thriving musical culture from Gaelic song, folk, Scottish country-dance, pipe bands and a whole lot more. 

Simon Thoumire, Clare McLaughlin and Elspeth Cowie launched the Young Scottish Traditional Musician Award (now called BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award) in 2000 to support and encourage young musicians in the pursuit of a career in traditional music, and to encourage positive media attention on traditional music.

The award has been very successful and is now entering its fourth year. The all-encompassing Scots Trad Music Awards is a natural development, and aims to recognise the best practitioners across the spectrum of musical traditions, and highlight Scotland’s best traditional music to its people and media.

The Awards is an initiative by Hands up for Trad!, a new organisation set up to raise traditional music awareness. The nominations for the various awards were selected by a steering group set up by Hands Up For Trad!, chosen for their interest in and commitment to Scottish traditional music. The first Awards ceremony and concert will take place at The Queens Hall, Edinburgh, on Saturday 13 September, 2003.

The Awards will give everyone a chance to register their own choices among the nominated artists and events (which are sure to prove contentious in themselves, if only because they always do). Highland musicians are certain to feature prominently when the votes are finally tallied ahead of the awards concert in September.
Voting for the awards continues until 8 August 2003.

The Awards are divided into 15 categories, each with four nominations. There is a special tribute category ‘Services to Traditional Music’ which this year will be posthumously awarded to poet and song collector Hamish Henderson, and in future years will be known as The Hamish Henderson Award.