{"id":11272,"date":"2026-11-02T07:47:27","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T07:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/?p=11272"},"modified":"2026-11-02T07:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T07:47:27","slug":"mg-alba-scots-trad-music-awards-2026-lainey-dempsey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/mg-alba-scots-trad-music-awards-2026-lainey-dempsey\/","title":{"rendered":"MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2026: Lainey Dempsey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Congratulations to Lainey Dempsey<\/strong> who has \/ have been nominated in Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year sponsored by Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2026. Vote for Lainey Dempsey now!<\/a><\/strong> It’s going to be another great night at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards on Saturday 5th December in Paisley Arena, Lagoon Centre. Why not join us for a brilliant night of music and awards. Buy a ticket here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We asked Lainey of Lainey Dempsey<\/strong> the following questions.<\/p>\n

Tell us about yourself<\/strong>
\nI have sung daily to myself for as long as I can remember and filled my first wee notebook with my own songs when I was 7 years old. Singing and writing were always quite private pastimes and a source of joy. Just normal stuff to be getting up to to keep the soul straight. I was uncomfortable and nervous if requested to sing as I didn't like a spotlight on this inner world. It felt like someone spotlighting your diary. Of course when I got older and would be having a beer or two with pals and family, that changed a little. Campfires and kitchen parties were fair game and I'd join in with all the music and singing. Rarely ever singing my own songs mind you. <\/p>\n

I've always loved unaccompanied singing and found the field recordings of Hamish Henderson and Alan Lomax to be pretty magical. When I was a teenager, a friend gave me a compilation of his favourite Alan Lomax recordings and that was me hooked. <\/p>\n

When covid hit, another pal who knew of my love of unaccompanied singing, told me of a weekly Dublin singing session that had moved online. An Goilin. He said you could just join and listen and that I would love it. He was right. After a few weeks I was asked to sing and it felt rubbish to say no after all that had been shared. So I decided to sing and that decision really was life changing. Soon I was singing most weeks and was comfortable enough to sing some of my own songs. When the pandemic finally passed, I was offered some gigs and walked in to a readymade community of singers. It was great to discover so many incredible singers that seemed to feel the same way as myself about what it is to sing a song. For me, it is all about the story and the feeling, even if you're just singing to yourself! Sometimes if I want to feel a certain way, I just sing the right song. The best feeling ever is when you leave the room and go off travelling with your song.
\nMy dad was a singer and would often play a mix of folk and country in the house. When I hit my teens I turned off to a lot of the material because I was not impressed with how the wummin were represented in almost all of the songs. When I started singing folk again as an adult I made a point of researching traditional songs that I was happy to perpetuate. I sing a few beautiful songs about slender lily white wummin weeping over the loss of a man but mostly I like to find a wummin with agency and attitude. Certainly when I am writing, I aim to highlight the many interesting wummin from Scotland's history and folktales who were never given their due. In relation to this, I'm interested in folk song as a form of protest and political record and often write about rebels, underdogs and social injustice whether current or historical. I like a satirical wordy upbeat songs or a heart wrenching ballad. There's room for it all.
\nI love singing many traditional Scots songs but concede that I am a novice and often when learning the song will be surrounded by my Scots dictionaries to make sure I know what I'm singing about. I use Scots words and phrases a lot when I write and in my daily chat. My knowledge is improving but I've a way to go!<\/p>\n

Any particular career highlights?<\/strong>
\n2022
\nI went from singing on my lockdown couch to being a guest at the Cullerlie Singing Weekend in Aberdeenshire and at The Frank Harte Festival in Dublin. I was terrified and remain proud of myself for saying yes to these gigs because they turned out to be the making of me.<\/p>\n

2023
\nSelf released my album Letle Telt. Half traditional songs, half my own. It was well received and was album of the week on BBC Radio Scotland.<\/p>\n

2024
\nFound out that some of the songs on Letle Telt are used in a German school to teach about women's history. Result!<\/p>\n

Professor Ian Russel asked if he could use some of my research on Hamish Henderson for a lecture at The Elphinstone Institute at Aberdeen University.<\/p>\n

2025
\nWas part of a New York based project called Dissident Hymns. It is an archive and outreach project in collaboration with independent radio stations around the world. One of my anti-apartheid songs was broadcast in Gaza and it was moving to be able to express solidarity so directly.<\/p>\n

Was a guest at Whitby Folk Week<\/p>\n

2026
\nWas commissioned by Govanhill Baths Community Trust to write a song about the history of the baths. This was to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the occupation of the baths and I sang the finished work on the steps of the baths at their anniversary event in August.
\nAs a result of this, the documentary film maker Frances Higson made a short film about the baths with 'The Ballad of The Baths' as the soundtrack. It is yet to be released. The song itself will come out as a single hopefully before the end of the year and proceeds will be used towards renovation costs of the baths.<\/p>\n

Was asked back to Whitby Folk Week <\/p>\n

The British Library Sound Archive requested a copy of Letle Telt for their national collection for 'preservation and access for generations to come'.<\/p>\n

Was nominated for a Scots Trad Music Award \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\nThroughout this time it has always been a highlight when a singer I respect and admire wishes to sing one of my songs. Sean Mone asked for my Mary Barbour song 'We Are Not Removing', Jimmy Hutchison has 'Sair Is Ma Hert', Scott Gardiner has, 'Gie Me Ma Songbook Ewan', Michael Quinn has 'Lady Grange's Lament', Carol Pryor sings 'Aye Right' and Sylvia Barnes sings, 'Lang May Yer Lums Reek' as well as a few more. I've recently written, 'We Sing Fer We Must' and have a few singers waiting for it! You really can't get better than great singers recognising your work and wanting to put their voice to it. Also it means the stories you want to tell travel further.<\/p>\n

What are your plans for the future?<\/strong>
\nI am one song away from finishing writing and researching my next collection of songs,
\n 'Trickle Tae Tide' (WT). It is a collection of 13 songs from around Scotland's coastline and rivers. I plan to record each song in the place it relates to. I'm fundraising just now for the travel and recording stage. It's all going to take a bit longer this time as I had to give up my residential end-of-life care work due to full-time caring at home. Money and time are now both a bit tighter but I'm well on my way and it will be done when it's done.<\/p>\n

Dr Thomas McKean, the new director of the Elphinstone Institute has been in touch and we plan to meet up soon to discuss plant lore in traditional Scottish songs. I have a degree in Medical Herbalism and my thesis was on stocking an indigenous herbal dispensary so this will be bringing a few passions together and I can't wait. Thoughts already of a third song collection after Trickle Tae Tide. <\/p>\n

I've a gig in a couple of weeks at Walthamstow Folk Club in London. 90 minutes of unaccompanied singing. It will be a challenge but I am getting better at chatting between songs. I actually quite enjoy it now. As you can probably tell, I'm not short of a word or two.<\/p>\n

I've a wee Celtic Connections gig at The Glad Cafe at the beginning of next year then I'm a guest at a singing weekend in the Cotswolds in February run by Will and Pippa Noble.<\/p>\n

After that we are back in spring tonic territory and I will head to Inishowen and Arainn Mhor in Donegal to join in on all the singing.<\/p>\n

Lainey Dempsey Social Media<\/strong>
\nWebsite: http:\/\/www.laineyd.org<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube: @laineydempsey4219<\/p>\n

Listen to music: http:\/\/laineydempsey.bandcamp.com<\/a><\/p>\n

The 2026 MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards are on the 5th December 2026 in Paisley Arena, Lagoon Centre! You will be able to watch it live in person (buy a ticket here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Hosted by Scottish personalities Alistair Heather and Mary Ann Kennedy, the night will welcome live performances from some of the brightest lights on the thriving trad scene today including Valtos, Gnoss, Sian, F\u00e8is Ph\u00e0islig, Spodo Komodo and BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Rachel Groves and many more!<\/p>\n

If you would like to support Hands Up for Trad in their work with Scottish trad music and musicians why not become a friend of Hands Up for Trad<\/a><\/strong>. In addition to our high profile events like the Scots Trad Music Awards, we also deliver a less well known, education programme for young people from 8yrs right through to young adults at the start of their careers. Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations to Lainey Dempsey who has \/ have been nominated in Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year sponsored by Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2026. Vote for Lainey Dempsey now! It’s going to be another great night at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nominee-2026","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/files\/2026\/10\/mail.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11274,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11272\/revisions\/11274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}