Martha Tilston is an English folk singer-songwriter based in Cornwall.
Biography
Martha Tilston is the daughter of singer-songwriter Steve Tilston and stepdaughter of Irish folk performer Maggie Boyle. Trained as an artist and dramatist, she began her musical career in 2000 as an active presence in Britain's alternative festival scene, particularly 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 and Mouse Tales and touring as a supporting act with Damien Rice. Her first solo album, Rolling, was issued in 2002 on her own label, Squiggly, followed by Bimbling in 2004. Tilston's next album, Ropeswing, featured an expanded group of backing musicians named The Woods and was available as 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 has also appeared on several compilations, including her song "The Saddest Game" about child soldiers in Africa on The Big Issue'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 contest. Throughout her career Tilston has played regularly throughout Britain, ranging from unaccompanied solo gigs to larger concerts with up to six-piece backing band The Woods. She also toured Australia in 2008. Following a maternity break she resumed playing live in April 2009, appearing on the fourth Zero 7studio albumYeah Ghost. Tilston released two albums of largely self-penned songs. In 2014, she released an album The Seaconsisting 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.
