The 2022 honors from the Audio Publishers Association include a joint win for the former Outlander co-stars, current Men in Kilts co-hosts and real-life BFFs for their work co-narrating the audio version of their November 2021 book, Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other. “A huge thank you! Thank you to Audie for the fantastic award,” Heughan gushed in his acceptance speech via Zoom, while McTavish added, “Yes, thank you, thank you for this incredible incredible honor. I mean, I’m absolutely thrilled, actually. I’ve been a longstanding lover of audiobooks, so to be the recipient of such an award is indeed rather marvelous.” Of course, the two couldn’t let the opportunity to engage in some witty banter pass them by. When McTavish said mid-acceptance speech to Heughan, “We must thank each other! I want to thank you,” Heughan quickly replied, “I want to thank you. It’s been nice actually seeing you instead of just having your dulcet tones.” McTavish then noted, “Hm, it’s significant that I thanked you first, though”—to which Heughan deadpanned, “Well, I mean, I’ll thank you first.” The two Scottish lads were in great company among this year’s Audie nominees, which included such stellar notables as Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Lin-Manuel Miranda. “So proud Clanlands is a finalist in the #audieawards @audiobooks amongst some stellar company,” Heughan wrote on Instagram in early February 2022 when the project was nominated. “Congrats to my co writer, co star, co audible narrator @grahammctavish!” Clanlands, a winner in the Audies’ History/Biography category, explores Scottish culture and history and served as the inspiration for Heughan and McTavish’s Men in Kilts travelogue series on Starz. Outlander author Diana Gabaldon wrote and narrated the introduction of the Clanlands audiobook, which was selected as an Apple Books Book of the Week last year. Clanlands is also a New York Times Bestseller. The duo had as much fun recording the Clanlands audiobook together as they had filming Men in Kilts, both of which feature Heughan and McTavish’s hilarious banter. “We had far too much fun recording this. In fact, we might have gone ‘off script’ sometimes,” McTavish wrote on Instagram. Check them out singing what sounds like an improvised rendition of the traditional Scottish song ‘Loch Lomond’ below! Last fall, the pair also recorded the audiobook to their Clanlands followup, Clanlands Almanac: Seasonal Stories from Scotland, which takes readers and listeners through a Scottish year, enjoying seasonal traditions and history. “In it you will find mountains, battles, famous (and infamous) Scots, the alarming competitiveness of Men in Kilts, clans, feuds, flora, fauna and a healthy sprinkling of embarrassing personal reminiscences,” Heughan wrote on Instagram of the almanac. View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Graham (@grahammctavish) Along with Clanlands, the other Audie Award finalists in the History/Biography category were Music Is History, written and narrated by Ahmir Khalib Thompson and Questlove; Somersett: Benjamin Franklin and the Masterminding of American Independence by Phillip Goodrich, narrated by Robert Petkoff, Joe Morton, Simon Jones, Euan Morton, Nicola Barber and the author; The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson, narrated by Kathe Mazur with Walter Isaacson; and A Weekend with Pablo Picasso; written and performed by Herbert Sigüenza. The 2022 Audie Awards were hosted by Kal Penn and livestreamed on the APA’s website on March 4. Men in Kilts was recently renewed for a second season on Starz, in which Heughan and McTavish will be exploring New Zealand. Outlander returned to Starz March 6 for its much-anticipated Season 6. Next, check out ourJamie Fraser appreciation post, with our 10 favorite Sam Heughan scenes from Outlander!
