Arts / Wood ‘absolutely delighted’ to be nominated for top traditional music award
AN ACCORDION player from Shetland who has given people some much-needed respite from the coronavirus pandemic with sessions on social media says he is “delighted” to be nominated for a top prize at this year’s Scots Trad Music Awards.
Peter Wood, who lives in Hoswick, has been shortlisted for the musician of the year award.
He has decades of experience, but more recently he gained a new audience by uploading videos of himself playing accordion tunes for 150 days during lockdown.
Wood said on Monday that he was “absolutely delighted, shocked and very humbled” at the nomination.
“I’m so thankful for the nomination and hope I have made folk’s year a wee bit better by presenting some music to them,” he said.
Wood is originally from Crawfordjohn in South Lanarkshire, and by the age of 14 he was a piper with the Biggar RBL Pipe Band.
He then branched out into lead accordion and composition too, while gigging took him out on the road.
In 1996 he moved to Shetland and for ten years he was the co-owner and manager of High Level Music.
He was also lead accordionist in Da Fustra, while now he plays in his own dance band.
Wood also teaches accordion in local schools for Shetland Islands Council.
He has given many something to smile about during the coronavirus pandemic, going online with video performances on Facebook while also raising money for the NHS at the same time.
These have gone global, with the clips racking up thousands of views, while it also inspired the successful Tunes in the Hoose project.
Tunes in the Hoose is nominated for the Community Music Project of the Year award.
Wood is no stranger to the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards, having been nominated for the Scottish Dance Band prize in 2016.
People can vote for their favourites in the 2020 awards by clicking this link.
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