BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2008

• Martin Simpson's album "Prodigal Son" has been voted BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards ALBUM OF THE YEAR
• The song "Never Any Good" from "Prodigal Son" has been voted BEST ORIGINAL SONG
  Plus!
• John Tams and Barry Coope have been voted DUO OF THE YEAR
• Andy Cutting, the winner of the Musician of the Year 2008 award, is also featured on Martin Simpson’s "Prodigal Son" and June Tabor’s "Apples".

2007 - Good Tradition Award - Nic Jones

A giant of the 1970s British folk scene, Nic Jones has been unable to play since the appalling car crash that ended his career 25 years ago. Yet his distinctive voice, inventive guitar playing and ambitious arrangements of traditional song have had an impact on everyone from Bob Dylan to Kate Rusby, and his “Penguin Eggs” album (Topic TSCD411) is frequently name-checked as one of the most important folk albums of all time. 60 this year, he remains one of the folk scene’s most influential figures.

In 2006, Topic Records released a remarkable collection of live performances from the late 1970s entitled “Game Set Match” (Topic TSCD566). "Reaffirms Nic’s rightful legend as a colossus of the folk revival…Just hearing him creates a warm glow of recognition, familiarity and joy." fRoots

"Penguin Eggs" may be the best British acoustic folk album ever made" Stuart Maconie, BBC Radio 2

2007 - Best Duo - Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick

Famously the subject of a premature obituary in the Daily Telegraph in 1999, Dave Swarbrick was too ill to claim his Lifetime Achievement award in 2004. Now recovered due to a successful double lung transplant, he has recently released “Straws In The Wind” (Topic TSCD556) with old compadre Martin Carthy. Regarded as one of the finest interpreters of traditional music as well as a highly influential guitarist, Carthy's work has immeasurably enriched the British folk heritage. Awarded the MBE for services to English folk music in 1998, and twice winner of the Folk Singer of the Year Award (2002 & 2005) his drive and enthusiasm are undiminished and he continues to be one of folk music's great innovators.

“Straws In The Wind” - "Intense and demanding, this is hard core traditional music. Sublime fiddle playing and the passionate delivery of evocative old songs by their ablest interpretor." Telegraph

2007 - Best Traditional Track - "Barleycorn" by Tim Van Eyken

Best known as a member of Waterson:Carthy and as winner of the BBC’s Young Folk Award in 1998, the Dorset singer/melodeon player shone in 2006 with his own band and the stunning album "Stiffs Lovers Holymen Thieves" (Topic TSCD565), bringing startling freshness and new ideas to the English tradition. The 20-something van Eyken (the name is from Belgian ancestors who settled in Wells), tours with his own band VAN EYKEN, which includes fiddler-singer Nancy Kerr and renowned guitarist / producer Olly Knight.

"Stiffs Lovers Holymen Thieves" - "What makes this set special are the arrangements and inspired instrumental work. The variety is remarkable…It's been a great year for the new folk scene, and this fresh, compelling album is one of the high points." The Guardian

2006 - John Tams - Singer of the Year, Album of The Year, and Best Traditional Track

John Tams triumphed at the 2006 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, winning Album of the Year for "The Reckoning", Best Traditional Track ("Bitter Withy") and Singer of the Year.

John Tams wins Singer of the Year, Album of The Year, and Best Traditional Track!!!

John Tams triumphed at the 2006 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, winning Album of the Year for "The Reckoning", Best Traditional Track ("Bitter Withy") and Singer of the Year.

John is the only artist to have won the prestigious “Album of the Year” twice, having already achieved this with "Unity", his first album for Topic in 2001.

When presenting the Singer of the Year award, acclaimed actor Bob Hoskins described John as “the real thing”. He went on to say “Some voices have the power to heal and I can hear his voice doing me good”, describing Tams’ work as “older than Stonehenge but fresher than a morning daisy”.

THE BBC RADIO 2 FOLK AWARDS 2003



Artists on the Topic label were again honoured at theBBC RADIO 2 FOLK AWARDS on Monday 10th Feb 2003, and ELIZA CARTHY with her recent album "Anglicana" received an unprecedented three Awards. She won Best Traditional Song (Worcester City), Best Album and Folk Singer of the Year. 418

LINDA THOMPSON
received the award of Best Original Song, presented by Peter O'Toole for 'No Telling', from her album 'Fashionably Late'.

The talented singer and songwriter Eliza Carthy is widely considered to be the leading light of a new generation of young folk musicians. She won the prestigious Folk Singer of the Year Award, which she received from internationally renowned author Kazuo Ishiguro. Eliza was also presented with the award for Best Album for "Anglicana" (Topic Records) by comedian, TV and radio presenter, Phil Jupitus. Later she picked up the Best Traditional Track Award from Boff and Lou from Chumbawamba for "Worcester City".

Linda Thompson also gained recognition for a successful comeback after a 20 year interval with her critically acclaimed album, "Fashionably Late" (Topic Records).

Linda received the award for Best Original Song for "No Telling", presented by legendary Hollywood actor and friend, Peter O'Toole.

The internationally renowned author Kazuo Ishiguro ('The Remains of the Day' etc) said this about the traditional music of these islands, when making the award of Best Singer to Eliza.

"There’s a kind of treasure chest that you have in front of you and, if you are American or, perhaps, Irish, you might have opened it by now. But, because you live here (in the United Kingdom) it probably hasn’t occurred to you to do so yet.

I urge you to open that thing up – delve inside it – because I believe you’ll find a sublime vision of life in the British Isles as it has been lived over the last few centuries. And it’s a kind of vision that you don’t get from the works of say, Dickens or Shakespeare or Elgar or Christopher Wren. If you don’t open that you’re going to miss a certain dimension – a whole dimension of cultural life in this country. So - I urge you to do it."

Topic Records echoes and endorses that sentiment wholeheartedly – indeed it reflects the fundamental philosophy that underpins the label.

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