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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZPOLWART, KarineSinger and songwriter Karine Polwart grew up near the Stirlingshire village of Banknock, and in 2005 lived on a hill in rural southeast Scotland, where the forest and the herons on the nearby River Tweed offset the gloomier aspects of living in the modern world. In her youth she cleaned a police station for a living; then she became a social worker, but turned to music. After apprenticeship with the Battlefield Band, then Malinky (of which she was a co-founder in 1998), at the age of 33 she released her debut solo CD in 2004 without any fanfare. Her roots influences, her wit, and her skill as a communicator resulted in a word-of-mouth groundswell, and in February 2005 she was nominated for five BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, of which she won Best Album, Best Song and Best Emerging Artist. The CD is called Faultlines; the opening track, ‘Only One Way', was playlisted on Radio 2 for several weeks. |