AFTER their explosion onto the national folk scene over the past two years, Dorset-based folk duo ‘Ninebarrow’ has been nominated for BBC Radio 2’s Folk Award Nomination in the ‘Horizon’ category, for best emerging artist.

It was only six months ago that Jon Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere gave-up careers in teaching and medicine to pursue their unique brand of folk music.

The annual event, being presented by Mark Radcliffe and Julie Fowlis at the Royal Albert Hall on April 5, is one of the year’s musical highlights, with some of the biggest names in folk music celebrating the UK’s thriving folk music scene.

The ceremony will welcome an array of star guests, including legendary performer Billy Bragg, headlining with a tribute to folk icon Woody Guthrie.

Ninebarrow member, Jon Whitley says: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have been nominated—over the moon doesn’t even come close really!

“It’s just so exciting to have our music acknowledged on a national level like this and we’re just delighted that people are enjoying it.

“The nomination itself feels like a ‘win’ for us.

“There’s such a lot of excellent young acts across the UK; we’ll be heading to the Royal Albert Hall just very happy to be there, whether we win or not!”

Since the release of their debut album in 2014, Ninebarrow have been rapidly fulfilling Shire Folk Magazine’s prediction that they will ‘become a major force in English folk music’, having received high praise from the likes of Mercury Music Prize nominees Seth Lakeman and Kate Rusby.

In March 2016, Ninebarrow independently released their second album to high critical acclaim – receiving a raft of glowing reviews. It was also listed in the Telegraph’s ‘Top Folk Albums of 2016’.

It is the multi-award-winning duo’s innovative take on the folk tradition that seems to be captivating audiences across the country. Jon and Jay combine breath-taking vocal harmonies and melodies, delivering songs and that are inspired and rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of the British Isles. It is their melding of excellent musicianship and their passion for storytelling that is, in the words of Shire Folk Magazine, taking this duo ‘up to the top’ of the UK folk scene.