Heidi Talbot

Born in the rural village of Kill, County Kildare, Ireland, Talbot began singing in the church choir run by her mother. At sixteen, she enrolled at Dublin's Bel Canto singing school, studying for the next year and a half under its founder and director Frank Merriman.

When she was 18, Heidi moved to New York, where she spent two years working in bars and clubs before being invited to join Cherish the Ladies in 2002. In between the band's touring schedule, Talbot continued to develop her solo work, releasing Distant Future on Nashville roots label Compass Records. Produced by John Doyle, the record featured such guests as multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell, concertinist John Williams and fiddler Rayna Gellert. Three years later, the recording of In Love and Light coincided with her decision to leave Cherish the Ladies at the end of 2007.

After the launch of In Love and Light at Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival in January 2008, Talbot featured as a guest on albums by Radiohead drummer Philip Selway, and the new trio collaboration of John McCusker, Kris Drever and Roddy Woomble. She has also sung on records by Eddi Reader, Boo Hewerdine, and Idlewild. She tours as a trio with John McCusker and Boo Hewerdine and finished a six-week tour opening for and singing with Eddi Reader. Heidi's album 'Angels Without Wings', is an album of original folk songs with guest contributions from Mark Knopfler, Jerry Douglas, King Creosote, Julie Fowlis and Tim O'Brien.

In Love and Light won an Indie Acoustic award for best album in 2008[1] and Talbot has been nominated for an Irish Music Award 2009 in the best female vocalist category[2] along with multiple BBC Radio 2 Folk award nominations.

Talbot now lives in the Scottish Borders with her husband, Scottish folk musician John McCusker[3] and their two daughters Molly Mae and Jessica.

• Heidi Talbot website
• Heidi Talbot myspace