"My
candle
burns at
both
ends;
It will
not last
the
night;
But, ah,
my foes,
and oh,
my
friends-
It gives
a lovely
light."
Edna St.
Vincent
Millay
(1882 -
1950) US
"author,
poet"
Celt In
A Twist:
From
Cherish
the
Ladies
to
cherishing
the
opportunity
to
explore
her
personal
musical
vision,
Irish
songstress
Heidi
Talbot
is back
with the
follow
up album
to
2004’s
acclaimed
solo
debut,
Distant
Future.
In Love
and
Light
brims
with
collected,
confident
and
creative
individual
energy
of
ensemble
artist
who has
come
into her
own.
We’ve
reached
Heidi by
phone to
tell us
more.
It’s a
pleasure
to talk
with
you.
Heidi
Talbot:
You too,
Cal.
CIAT:
Where
have we
reached
you?
HT: I'm
in
Edinburgh
in
Scotland.
CIAT:
Oh,
lovely!
Heidi,
you
recorded
this
album at
The Farm
in
Surrey.
That’s
the
Genesis
recording
studio
isn’t
it?
HT: No,
actually
it
wasn't
in
Surrey
it was
in
Cambridge.
CIAT:
OK, so
this is
a
different
Farm
entirely?
HT: Yah,
a
totally
different
farm
studio
in
Cambridge
and
actually
this
studio
belongs
to the
man who
wrote
Walking
on
Sunshine
(Katrina
& The
Waves).
You know
that
song?
CIAT:
Yah, of
course.
We
thought
that was
a
Canadian
song.
HT:
Well, he
actually
might be
Canadian.
CIAT:
So,
what’s
the vibe
like
there?
Is it an
urban
studio
or a
rural
studio?
HT: It's
out in
the
middle
of a
field.
CIAT:
Ah, like
the name
suggests?
HT:
Yes!
It's
sort of
on a
country
road and
hard to
find.
But,
it's
really
lovely,
yes?
There
are
horses
at the
back and
fields
of corn.
Besides
that,
you're
in the
middle
of
nowhere.
So, it's
quite
productive
because
there's
nothing
to do
except...
CIAT:
Make
music?
You’ve
surrounded
yourself
with
some of
our Celt
In A
Twist
favorites
on the
new
album,
people
like
Michael
McGoldrick,
Kris
Drever,
and Eddi
Reader …
but
we’re
not
familiar
with
your
producer,
Boo
Hewerdine.
What can
you tell
us about
him?
HT: Boo
works
with
Eddi
Reader
all the
time. He
plays
guitar
with
Eddi and
he's
produced
a couple
of
Eddi's
records.
He’s
from
Cambridge/
he's a
really
famous
singer/songwriter
over
here.
He's
written
songs
for
anyone
and
everyone
and
collaborated
with
people
from K.D.
Lang to
Natalie
Imbruglia
to Mel C
from the
Spice
Girls.
He does
a wide
range of
stuff
and he's
an
amazing
singer.
I think
he's one
of
England's
treasures.
CIAT:
Heidi,
the
album is
a
grab-bag
of odds
and
sods,
beautiful
songs,
all of
them but
they
come
from
everywhere,
all
bound
together
with
your
lovely
Irish
lilt.
What do
you see
as the
common
thread
between
them?
HT: I
suppose
the
common
thread
is me.
These
are
songs
I've
collected
over the
past
four
years.
It took
four or
five
years of
gathering
different
songs so
we ended
u p with
forty
songs
and then
whittling
it down
to ten
or
twelve
songs
and not
having
too much
of a
contrasting
mood
between
each
song.
There
wasn't
any sort
of a
requirement
in my
head
saying,
"Well,
you
can't do
that
kind of
song
because
that's a
country
song or
that's
an old
tymey
song ...
I'm an
Irish
singer
and I'll
sing
anything!
CIAT: No
boundaries.
HT: Yah.
CIAT:
The
Village
Voice
describes
you as
Bjork
combined
with
Enya,
which is
fine
company
to be in
but
seriously,
what
were
they
smoking
when
they up
with
that
comparison?
HT:
(laughs)
I liked
it at
the
time. I
thought,
"That's
cool."
CIAT:
But, do
you see
it? I
don't!
HT: No.
But, I
don't
think
anyone
really
does.
But,
it's a
nice
comparison.
CIAT:
You’ve
got your
Celt In
A Twist
and
we’ve
got
Heidi
Talbot
on the
line to
talk
about In
Love and
Light,
her
second
solo
album on
Compass
Records.
Feel the
love and
enlighten
yourself
with an
introduction
to Heidi
and her
music
at
www.heiditalbot.com.
What was
the
inspiration
for the
title,
Heidi?
HT:
It's a
blessing.
I was on
my way
to the
States
from
Scotland.
I was
going on
tour for
five
weeks
and I
was
leaving
my
boyfriend
and I
was a
little
bit sad
about
going
away on
the
road.
Some of
the
girls in
church
got me
this
book of
angels.
I had it
in my
bag on
the
plane.
I’m sure
a lot of
musicians
are like
this.
You have
a bag
and it
just
becomes
full of
stuff
and you
never
think to
empty
it.
There
are
loads
and
loads of
odds and
ends and
you
never
know
what
you're
going to
find.
So, I
had this
book and
I hadn't
read it
yet, so
I'm
sitting
on the
plane
and I
opened
it on
this
page and
it was a
blessing
you
would
say to
the
angels.
Not to
go to
hippie
or
religious
on you
but
that's
what I
thought.
CIAT:
That's
beautiful.
You’ve
made a
big
impression
among
your
contemporaries.
Tell us
about
some of
the
other
projects
you’re
guesting
on this
year.
HT: I'm
a guest
on
Philip
Selway,
the
drummer
for
Radiohead.
He, at
the
moment
is
recording
a solo
album
and as
well as
the
album
he's
doing a
LP of
four or
five
songs so
he asked
me to
sing one
of the
songs on
the LP.
So, I
was
really
so
delighted
and
chuffed
to asked
to do
that.
And,
I’ve
just
come out
of the
studio.
I was
doing
some
vocals
on a new
record
that's
coming
out with
John
McCusker,
Kris
Drever,
Roddy
Woomble
from
Idlewild
and
they're
bringing
out a
record
and the
girl
singer
... the
chick
back-up
singer I
suppose
is me.
That's
coming
out at
the end
of May
or June.
CIAT: I
can
hardly
wait!
There
seems to
be a
real
community
among
Celtic
new
traditionalists.
How do
you see
the
scene
developing
in the
future,
these
kinds of
collaborations
and
building
the
scene?
HT:
Yah, I
don't
see why
not. I
think
it's
something
that has
always
been
there,
but
maybe it
more
apparent
now
because
folk
music is
getting
more
attention.
There is
so much
happening
and
there
are so
many
things
on the
way and
it's
just
getting
better
and
better!
CIAT:
We’re
going
out on a
lofty
song
from the
new
album
called
Cathedrals.
Can you
set this
up for
us?
HT:
Yes,
this is
a song I
heard
from
Jump
Little
Children.
They're
a band
from
South
Carolina
or North
Carolina
... I
might be
totally
wrong.
They’re
a band
from the
States,
and it's
just a
beautiful
song.
It's
such a
lonely
song, so
we
decided
we would
do a
version
of it.
Hopefully
if they
hear it,
they
won't
hate us
(laugh).
Heidi
Talbot
was
interviewed
by Cal
Koat on
February
21st for
broadcast
on Celt
In A
Twist,
AM 1470,
CJVB
