BBC R2 Folk Awards 2007

The results of the BBC Radio Two Folk Awards are in, and the headline-grabber this year is Devonian fiddler Seth Lakeman, who won both 'Folk Singer of the Year' and 'Best Album' for his 2006 release Freedom Fields.

Jo and I saw Lakeman in a fantastic support slot for The Levellers at a Manchester Academy gig a year or so back, before he was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. The highlight of the evening was when the Levellers invited Lakeman on-stage for one of their encores, during which he and Jon Sevink staged a fiddle-off version of 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia', and that really had the crowd up on their toes.

Anyhow, there's a lot of good stuff happening in British Folk Music at the moment. Not that I'm an expert or anything - more of an interested dabbler and occasional eBay purchaser - but what I've heard so far I've tended to like a lot.

If you're folk-curious, or are looking for a good selection of current highlights - or you just think you might enjoy the sort of music that puts more emphasis on good story-telling and technical accomplishment than a bass-heavy synth beat and associated merchandising opportunities - then the 2007 edition of the annual Radio 2 Folk Awards CD [Amazon] - a compilation of tracks by all the nominated artists - is a damn good place to start.