Martha was raised on a diet of The Eagles, The Traveling Wilburys and folk heroes, The Dubliners. These were – and still are - staples of the Healy family vinyl collection. At the same time, in her native Scotland, she was listening to female artists like Sheryl Crow, Carol King, Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline and picked up the guitar to start writing her own songs. Her new album, “Keep the Flame Alight” was written on Martha's "life sabbatical" to Nashville in 2016 and she returned there to record in Oct 2017, with David Spicher in the producer’s chair. The album was released on 5th October 2018 at Glasgow Americana Festival and followed up with a tour of Scotland and England. It entered the ITunes Country charts at no. 11 and has received praise for its lyrical and melodic content. Live festival performances to date include C2C (Glasgow & London), Glasgow Americana Festival, Eden Festival (Scottish Borders), Southern Fried Festival (Perth) and HebCelt (Isle of Lewis).
Martha recently showcased at the AMA UK's AmericanaFest in London in played as part of Celtic at Celtic Connections roots festival in her native Scotland. Press for new album, “Keep The Flame Alight” “like a classic Nanci Griffith album with songs by Gretchen Peters...' - Country Music People magazine "With real emotions, real people and real stories coming through in spades via Martha L. Healy’s emotive vocals, youll find it difficult to find a better album from these shores in 2018." – Nick Cantwell, Belles and Gals “One of the finest Americana albums out of the UK this year, Healy doesn’t just keep the flame alight, she ensures it blazes.” – Mike Davies, Folk Radio UK 'really strong songwriting....she's up there with Lori McKenna' - Marie Crichton BBC Radio Shropshire "the perfect soundtrack to whisky-tinged evenings in front of glowing fires." – Highway Queens 'This is a fine album of well written, beautifully performed country songs, sung with great emotion and with a perfect musical backing. It is Nashville with a Celtic tinge and it cements Martha L. Healy’s place as one of the best young singer/songwriters around at the moment.' Blues and Roots Radio '...a continuous stream of beautiful hand crafted songs straight from the heart...' - Robsrawmusic ' (a) very, very strong song....beautifully sung' - Frank Hennessy, BBC Radio Wales "...there certainly are Lori McKenna vibes....it's beautiful from start to finish.." - Russell Hill's Country Music Show 'impeccable songwriting' - Country Music People