Born as Charlotte Ann Martin on 31 October 1976. She grew up in Charleston, Illinois (USA) where she won the Miss Illinois Teen USA contest in 1994. She graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1998, majoring in opera. A year later she moved to Los Angeles, California.

Her debut album ‘On Your Shore’ was released in 2004. To help promote the album, Martin toured on the “Chicks with Attitude” tour with Liz Phair, The Cardigans, and Katy Rose in the summer of 2004.

In September 2006, Martin’s second full-length album on a major label, ‘Stromata’, was released. The album showcased a darker sound, with keyboards and other electronic instruments being predominant in the mix (as opposed to the more acoustic piano-based feel of the previous record).

In September 2005 she married musician/producer Ken Andrews. Their first child was born in May 2008. Meanwhile, she released the album ‘Reproductions’ in 2007. It was an album of cover versions. Her version of Cloudbusting was released as a digital bonus track.

In September 2008, Martin confirmed the release of a new studio EP, ‘Orphans’. A video blog was posted several days later on September 8, revealing more details on the project, which contains B-sides and other material left off ‘On Your Shore’ and ‘Stromata’ (hence the EP name Orphans). Most of the tracks are re-recorded or remastered. In 2009, she released the instrumental album ‘Piano Trees’, a collection of improvised piano songs.

In February 1, 2011, Martin released her fourth album, ‘Dancing on Needles’. Produced by Ken Andrews (who had previously worked with Pete Yorn and Beck), the rapturous album traces Martin’s heartbreaking struggle with intercostal neuralgia, a nerve disorder that left her incapacitated for much of the past year. She gave birth to her second child in March 2011.

On February 25, 2014, Charlotte Martin released ‘Water Breaks Stone’. On March 27, 2017, Charlotte Martin announced that she would no longer be touring, preferring to focus on motherhood. She held a farewell tour between March and May, and released a new album called ‘Rapture’ in May 2017.

Charlotte Martin about Kate Bush

I think it’s difficult to cover Kate Bush and do it well. I thought it should be a solo performance because I didn’t even want to try and compete with her production – I thought it was too perfect. So I just stripped it down. It seemed like a right thing to do. (Marta Oliehoek-Samitowska, Symphony In Blue: Kate Bush and her legacy, cop. 2013)