Greetings. I'm very excited to say that we're here to announce the nine albums nominated for the very first folk album of the Year Award.

And I'm delighted that with me is the singer and songwriter Kelly Weil,

who is chair of our partners in this award, Sound Roots,

and has also been chairing the jury of 12 good people

who've been selecting the nominees for the award.

It's lovely to have you on the call, Kelly.

How did the jury discussions go?

Great to be here, Matthew. As you can probably

imagine, I'm going to say, really, really tough because there were almost 150 entries for the award,

so that's 150 albums that the jurors had to somehow whittle down to just nine. So you know

you doing your podcast regularly. how many great albums are coming

out all the time from artists in Britain and Ireland. And so I think they had a really hard job,

but they'd done it. They've come up with a list of nine, which I think really showcases the breadth

of folk music from right across the UK and Ireland and all the

different styles and backgrounds and types of folk music we have. So I think it looks really

exciting. And before we reveal the nominees, just the reminders of the makeup of the jury,

what sort of people have been making these choices? Twelve juries, all very distinguished

in their fields. They represent Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England.

We've got journalists, musicians, authors, broadcasters, festival and gig promoters.

So from all of those fields, a thoroughly professional eclectic and influential group.

Okay, well, let's, without more ado, find out which nine albums they have nominated as folk

albums of the year 2025. How are you going to do this?

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