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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2 Young Folk Award 2009 – winners announced
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Megan & Joe Henwood, a brother and sister duo from Oxfordshire, have won the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2 Young Folk Award 2009.
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Highlights from the final and their winning performance can be heard on the Mike Harding Show tonight, Wednesday 10 December, at 7.00pm on Radio 2.
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Twenty-year-old Megan, and Joe, aged 15, claimed the title at the end of a night of music at The Queen Elizabeth Hall, London where six of the UK's most promising folk acts performed.
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They were presented with their trophy by Jim Moray, a previous Radio 2 Young Folk Award finalist who sat on this year's judging panel.
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Megan (guitar and vocals) first stood on a stage to perform her own composition at the age of nine and draws inspiration from the music of her childhood through her mother's love of folk music and evenings spent at Nettlebed Folk Club.
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Joe (saxophone) is in his final GCSE year but finds time to play in a number of bands.
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Between them, Megan and Joe sing, play acoustic and electric guitars, bass, mandolin, ukulele, keyboards, drums and saxophone.
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The evening's host, Mike Harding, says: "It was interesting to see a singer songwriter and her brother winning this year's Radio 2 Young Folk Award.
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"There was so much talent on stage at the final that I would have found it really hard to come up with a winner; come up with it the judges did – and I think the result indicates both the breadth and the strength of the folk scene today. Μύ
"Today's new songs often become tomorrow's standards, and one of Megan's songs in particular, White Lies, is still running through my mind. It is so good it could have been written by Lal Waterson and Joe's saxophone accompaniment fits it perfectly." Μύ
Their prize includes recording a live session for Mike's Radio 2 show and slots on the bill at three of the UK's most prestigious festivals – the Cambridge Folk Festival, Fairport's Cropredy Convention and Towersey Village Festival.
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Twelve acts were selected at a semi-finals weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon in October which included workshops, sessions and culminated in an evening audition concert judged by a panel of music industry professionals.
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Six acts then went through to the final.
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Now in its eleventh year, the Radio 2 Young Folk Award is the network's annual search for the most promising folk musicians in the UK.
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The initiative is open to anyone aged 15 to 20, performing traditional and acoustic music with roots in any culture as a band, duo or soloist.
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Previous winners include Tim van Eyken, Uiscedwr, Bodega, Last Orders and last year's winners, Jeana Leslie and Siobhan Miller, who have had a busy folk festival itinerary and released their debut album In A Bleeze in the summer.
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This year's final took place on Friday 5 December 2008.
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The other five finalists were:
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Jaywalkers – a duo from Lancashire. Nineteen-year-old Michael Giverin (mandolin) and 15-year-old Jay Bradberry (fiddle, guitar and vocals) describe their music as a mixture of folk and bluegrass; combining traditional folk tunes with bluegrass style arrangements.
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Lucy Ward – a singer, songwriter and guitarist from Derby. Eighteen-year-old Lucy has just finished her A Levels. After getting her first guitar at the age of 14, she quickly progressed into playing the folk clubs and open mic nights in and around her native Derby. In 2007 she won the Klondike Folk Arts Songwriter of the Year, with her song Shellback.
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Emily Hoile & Alice Burn – who are from Northumberland and play clarsach and Northumbrian smallpipes. Both aged 16, Emily and Alice board at St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh, where they study with Catriona McKay and Dr Anthony Robb and play with the Sage Gateshead's renowned youth orchestra Folkestra. Emily reached the final of this competition last year as a soloist.
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Tyde – a trio from Northumberland and the Scottish Borders whose music draws extensively on the traditions of these regions. Tyde are Seth Tinsley (guitar), Heather Gessey (fiddle), and Andrew Waite (accordion). They came together as a trio in April 2008 whilst on tour in Spain with the Sage Gateshead's youth folk ensemble, Folkestra.
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Maz O'Connor – a ballad singer from Cumbria. Aged 17, Maz has been performing for around three years unaccompanied, and also appears as the guest singer for the group Last Orders who won the Young Folk Award two years ago. Her influences include Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Chris Wood and Karine Polwart.
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Full information on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2 Young Folk Awards can be found at bbc.co.uk/radio2.
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