Martha Tilston is an English folk singer-songwriter based in Cornwall.
Biography
Martha Tilston is the daughter of singer-songwriter
Steve Tilston
Steve Tilston (born 26 March 1950) is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Early life
Steve Tilston was born in Liverpool and brought up in Leicestershire. A graphic designer before taking up music in 1971, Tilston lived in Bristol ...
and stepdaughter of Irish folk performer
Maggie Boyle
Maggie Boyle (24 December 1956 – 6 November 2014) was an English, London-born folk singer, who also played flute, whistle and bodhrán.
Early life
Margaret Boyle was born in the Battersea district of southwest London, and grew up in London's I ...
. Trained as an artist and dramatist, she began her musical career in 2000 in Britain's alternative festival scene, as part of the travelling troupe called the Small World Solar Stage. She formed the duo Mouse with guitarist Nick Marshall, releasing two albums, ''Helicopter Trees'' (2000) and ''Mouse Tales'' (2001) and touring as a supporting act with
Damien Rice
Damien George Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate success i ...
. Her first solo album, ''Rolling'', was issued in 2002 on her own label, Squiggly, followed by ''Bimbling'' in 2004.
Tilston's next album, ''Ropeswing'' (2005), featured backing musicians named The Woods, was a free download. It contains her two most politically explicit songs, "Artificial", which speaks of the deadliness of office life, and "Corporations", which is a critique of corporate rule and the "corporate–education complex". She appeared on several compilations, including her song "The Saddest Game" about child soldiers in Africa on
The Big Issue
''The Big Issue'' is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or individ ...
's ''Peace Not War'' CD. Her song "Good World" is among several that she has written and performed on environmental subjects. However, much of her work is not political, focusing instead on personal freedom, love, inner peace and the natural world. Songs such as "Simple" on ''Ropeswing'', "By the Lake" on ''Mouse Tales'' and "Firefly" on ''Bimbling'' are examples of these.
Tilston's album ''Of Milkmaids and Architects'' was released in late 2006. She was nominated for Best New Act in the 2007
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...
contest.
Throughout her career, Tilston has played unaccompanied solo gigs to larger concerts with the six-piece backing band The Woods. She toured Australia in 2008. Following a maternity break, she resumed playing live in April 2009, appearing on the fourth
Zero 7
Zero 7 are an English musical duo consisting of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. They began as studio engineers and in 1997 formed the group Zero 7. Their debut album, '' Simple Things'', was released in 2001 in which their song "Destiny" stayed ...
studio album, ''
Yeah Ghost
''Yeah Ghost'' is the fourth studio album by Zero 7, released in September 2009. The album features vocals by ESKA (on "Mr McGee", "Medicine Man", "Sleeper", and "The Road"), Martha Tilston (on "Pop Art Blue"), Binki Shapiro (on "Swing" and ...
''.
Tilston released two albums of largely self-penned songs (''Lucy and the Wolves'' in 2010 and ''Machines of Love And Grace'' in 2012). In 2014, she released an album ''The Sea'' consisting of traditional English folk songs about the sea, largely reflecting her family's strong musical traditions and involving her family and friends in the performances.
In 2021, she wrote, directed and starred in a feature film ''The Tape''.
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Discography
Albums
* 2000 Mouse: ''Helicopter Trees'' (with Nick Marshall)
* 2001 Mouse: ''Mouse Tales'' (with Nick Marshall)
* 2003 ''Rolling''
* 2004 ''Bimbling''
* 2006 ''Ropeswing'' (credited to Martha Tilston and The Woods)
* 2007 ''Of Milkmaids and Architects''
* 2008 ''Till I Reach the Sea'' (compilation EP)
* 2010 ''Lucy and the Wolves''
* 2012 ''Machines of Love and Grace''
* 2014 ''The Sea''
* 2017 ''Nomad''
* 2021 ''The Tape''
References
External links
Official Martha Tilston website
Sources
* Biography by Colin Irwin at Allmusic.combr>Review from The Argus
* ttp://www.netrhythms.co.uk/reviewst.html#martha Review of Of Milkmaids and Architects by David Kidmanbr>Review from BBC Norfolk
Interview with Colin Irwin of fRoots Magazine (subscription) No. 297, March 2008
Martha Tilston on Folk Radio UK
*(Artist's newsletter, 6 January 2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilston, Martha
1970s births
Living people
English folk singers
People from Brighton
21st-century English women singers
21st-century English singers