http://www.folkradio.co.uk/2011/12/live ... ards-2011/
Meal do naidheachd, Art - nach math a rinn thu, agus tha thu airidh air!Hamish Henderson Services to Traditional Music Award -This award was introduced in 2003 to celebrate those special people whom Scottish traditional music couldn’t do without. It was posthumously awarded to Hamish Henderson and thereafter known as “The Hamish Henderson Services to Traditional Music Award.” In 2005 when the Hall of Fame was born it was decided to bring the two awards together and insert recipients of both into the Hall of Fame. This year it was won by ‘King’ Arthur Cormack. Described by Mary Ann Kennedy as a unique voice and a quietly determined soul.
Under Arthur’s direction the Feis movement was born. Earlier in the ceremony we had heard from the Feis Rois 25th Anniversary Band which alone featured among it’s ranks Corrina Hewat, two members of The Shee, two members of Treacherous Orchestra and Mairearad Green of the Poozies and many other well known performers. Bear in mind that there are currently around 13000 children and teenagers involved in Feis activities every year. On top of this Arthur spent the nineties and the early naughties driving from Feis to Feis MC’ing and performing at Tutor ceilidh’s. What a star… Wouldn’t like to see his mileage though!
Arthur is also behind Macmenema records which brought us albums by Blair Douglas, Julie Fowlis’s first album, two albums by Cliar and continues to release the very best in Gaelic and highland music. It was pointed out that we’ve been waiting since 1989 for a follow up to his influential Ruith Na Gaoith album. Maybe this win will spur him to make his third album.
A comment that also appeared on Twitter as he took the stage read, “The man deserves an award for writing reasonable, factual, statistically supported answers to every daft anti-Gaelic bigot that writes in an online newspaper comments section. The pateince of the man is beyond belief.” Hear hear!
