IRISH folk singer Heidi Talbot has never played a concert in York, but the city still holds a special place in her heart.

“One of mine and John’s first dates was in York, so we’ll always love the place,” says Heidi, whose husband, Scottish fiddle player John McCusker, will be by her side when she performs at the National Centre for Early Music on Thursday night.

McCusker, it was, who produced her second album, last October’s The Last Star, a record that received nominations earlier this year for two 2011 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards: Best Traditional Song for Willy Taylor and Folk Singer of the Year.

“We didn’t win but we had a great night! We had a babysitter in for Molly, went along for a few drinks and it was lovely to be nominated,” says Heidi. “It’s a lovely acknowledgement that people think your album is good or that what you’re doing deserves to be up there with [award winner] Chris Wood.”

Heidi moved to Edinburgh in 2007, releasing her first solo album the following year, In Love And Light, recorded with producer Boo Hewerdine. “I feel really, really lucky,” she says, acknowledging how her career has blossomed since settling down in Scotland.

“I moved to the States when I was 18 and was there for seven years, starting off in wedding bands, and then I joined Cherish The Ladies, who were very successful and are still going strong, but I got homesick for Ireland, and so I was commuting, leaving on a Thursday, coming back on a Monday.

“At the same time I wanted to start doing more solo work and the band was so busy that you couldn’t do both and I’d met John and he’d asked me to move to Scotland.”

Heidi has since enjoyed diverse engagements, performing regularly at Celtic Connections (where she first encountered John McCusker); singing on Scottish rock band Idlewild’s last album and Eddi Reader’s latest record; and touring with Eddi and Drever McCusker Woomble.

Now she is on the road in a trio with McCusker and guitarist Ian Carr. “I’ll be singing and playing ukulele and I’ve just borrowed a harmonium from [fellow musician] Andy Seward, which I’m trying to get into the concert,” she says.

“I do like playing in a trio format – though it’s always great to play with a big band, there’s something to be said for all getting in one car and going off on the road together.”

Travelling to perform music runs in her Irish family. “My mum and my dad sang in a professional choir and went on tour to Germany, and when they came back, my mum found she was pregnant with me,” says Heidi, who hails from Kildare.

“My mum used to run the village choir – and yes, I did it sing in it!”

Heidi Talbot plays the National Centre for Early Music, York, Thursday at 7.30pm. Tickets update: still available on 01904 658338 or online at ncem.co.uk