Irish, but resident in Scotland, Heidi Talbot is a very talented singer-songwriter, and we were lucky enough to catch her and accompanying guitarist, Toby Shaer at The Taliesin Arts Centre on Swansea University’s Singleton campus Saturday 18th April, our first visit to this particular venue, but hopefully not the last.

Not long after I started the website, I reviewed her Sing it for a Lifetime album, which you can see by clicking on the button below.

Last year, she released Grace Untold, with a cover replete with artist as fire goddess, which I really must review, because it is another special work. If you go to BBC Sounds, you should be able to pick up a podcast of Mark Ratcliffe’s superb Radio 2 Folk Show in which Heidi performed tracks from it and discussed them with a fine DJ. I have also played music by Heidi on my Progzilla Radio show.

The set was wholly acoustic. Singer/guitarist alongside a very talented guitarist, and some of his fretwork was very dextrous and always impressive. This sort of stripped-back concert might seem to the naked eye simple and straightforward, but it isn’t. I think of all the sets an artist can tour, this is the most difficult – with a full band, you can hide behind glitches in the noise and hubbub. Here, there is no hiding place whatsoever, but there was nothing to fear in that regard – it was note perfect throughout, and I am glad to report that the haunting voice I fell for listening to her studio work is just as impactful in the live setting, hitting heights which really should be impossible to hit at certain points.

Those of you familiar with my live reporting will know that I prefer to live in the moment at live sets, not using the phone for photos, videos, or notes. This is, therefore, the musings of a writer from memory without a full setlist to hand.

Talbot is an engaging hostess, telling us the stories behind each song, and fascinating they were too, especially from the perspective of learning about heroines and characters buried by misogyny, with history concentrating on male partners, such as the wife of Charles Stuart Parnell, who sounds every bit as interesting as him. We had the story of The Shepherd Lad who saw a woman naked in the river and insisted that he had to marry her after this sight, but she boldly told him to “feck off” when arriving back home! We were treated to the story of Brigid (a track from Grace Untold), the goddess “whom poets adore” and associated with wisdom, poetry, and healing amongst other things. Grace herself is Grace O’Malley, head of the Ó Máille clan, a sea captain who fought against English landlords and won the favour of Queen Elizabeth I. All storytelling bringing us intelligence in the lyrics and a deep and rich culture at its core.

Talbot also gave us a glimpse into the songwriting process, telling us that she had written a melody with nonsense words to accompany it, but decided to keep the nonsense words. We were able to sing along to them, as we were with the fantastic Rainbows and Kinky Kisses, more lyrics retained as they fitted the song so well.

I thought the title track to Sing it for a Lifetime was particularly well performed, an extremely strong personal lyric belted out with quite fearsome force. The aforementioned The Shepherd Lad and Start It All Over Again from the 2010 album, The Last Star, were both performed with gusto, and we got the CD from Heidi personally at the merch table during the break. Glynis was spot on when she told Heidi that she loved a performance which had the goddess energy.

This was the penultimate night of the tour, which had taken the pair the length and breadth of the country. The previous night was in London, and they were rounding off the tour in Suffolk, of all places, so as Talbot said, some better travelling planning was probably required on the next tour.

Talking of which, if you get the chance to see her locally, then do take the opportunity. Two hours in the company of a couple of very talented and passionate musicians should never be passed up.

For a closing thought, the turnout was disappointing, for sure, with the auditorium not quite half full. Heidi described us as “small, but mighty”, and it did not impact upon a great performance at all, but when so many commentators such as I fret about the future of live music as a viable commercial concern, it is a worry, and I must say the absence of students with a live intelligent performance literally on their student digs doorstep was not a good commentary on the artistic values of that body. Getting lashed in Wine Street versus live music? I know what I would have taken at that age every day of the week.