Slàinte Mhath and Encore Management Group are pleased to announce that the band has been nominated for a BBC Folk Award. The category is the “Horizon Award” which is presented to artists "being seen to be promising great things". They are the only Canadian band to be included in the nominations this year.

The nominations for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2002 will be announced on the Mike Harding Show on Wednesday December 5 (8pm - 9pm GMT). The show can be heard live on the website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2 (on air now). The radio show will feature a track from Slàinte Mhath¹s current CD.

The nominations have been compiled by more than eighty music industry professionals - agents, promoters, record label executives, journalists and broadcasters - who will now vote again to choose a winner in each category.

“We are honored to have been included” said Sherri Keirstead, manager for the group. ”The tour this summer was a huge success and I am thrilled that the bands¹ hard work and talent have been recognized by the music industry in the U.K.”

2001 has been a whirl-wind of a year for Slàinte Mhath, breaking markets in Sweden, Denmark, England, Scotland and still doing an impressive amount of touring in Canada. The tour in the U.K was in conjunction with Greentrax Recordings releasing the album in Europe. The tour pioneered a ground-breaking collaboration between the band and BBC Radio Scotland which led to the band's day by day tour account being featured on the BBC web-site.

The winners will be announced at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2002, which will be held at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London, on Monday 11 February 2002. Highlights from the evening will be broadcast in a special edition of the Mike Harding Show on BBC Radio 2 on Wednesday 13 February.

This will be the third annual BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. The event continues to raise the profile of folk music and celebrate the achievements of artists in folk, roots and acoustic music - from contemporary songwriters to traditional performers.