A Scots singer from Dumfries is in the running for a top trad music award.
Twenty-five-year-old Claire Hastings has sung her way through to the finals of this year’s BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year, a title already enjoyed by two of the region’s finest singers: Thornhill’s Emily Smith in 2002 and Robyn Stapleton of Stranraer in 2014.
Claire said: “Winning the competition would help me to reach a wider audience, use the title to promote myself to venues and festival and help me to sustain a career in Scottish music.”
Before fulfilling her ambition to travel the world, Claire attained a first class honours degree in Scottish Music from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2011.
Since then, her impressive solo highlights include featuring on BBC Radio Scotland’s Take The Floor with Ian Muir and on Alive music radio with Hugh Taylor. She has sung for Glasgow’s Lord Provost; members of the Scottish Parliament in Brussels; and at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, starring in five star-reviewed show The Kist in 2011. Claire also completed a tour of the region with Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival alongside Marilyn Middleton-Pollock and Keith Hancock.
Last year Claire joined the Live Music Now programme with Robyn Stapleton. The duo headlined the Star Folk Club in Glasgow and enjoyed playing Girvan and Moniaive Folk Festivals over last year’s summer. They are currently involved with the Time for Traditional Tunes project on the Isle of Mull, which includes leading a singing workshop for older people with Alzheimers and dementia.
She added: “Singing with Robyn Stapleton, I have seen first-hand how many opportunities can come from being BBC’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year. She has had a fantastic year.”
As a member of the Top Floor Taivers, Claire not only showcases her impressive voice but also her talent for songwriting. The band recently recorded their first EP.
Claire is also involved with several teaching projects throughout Scotland.
The semi-finals of BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2015, took place at Coulter in October. Claire found herself amongst six finalists – three fiddle players, one Gaelic singer and a clarsach player – and the winner will be announced at a ceremony in Glasgow’s City Halls on Sunday, February 1, at 5pm.
“I was delighted to be put through to the final,” Claire said. “All twelve of the semi-finalists were so talented and deserved a place. We all had a fantastic weekend at Coulter.
Claire says she hasn’t thought too much about winning the competition but is “just thrilled to be in the final.
“Of course it would mean a lot to win, but it all depends how things go on the night. All the finalists will get to go on tour later in the year, so I am very excited about that.”
The finals are part of Celtic Connections festival and will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Scotland between 5pm and 8pm.
