Karine Polwart

Warts and all: Many artists write songs about pain and suffering, but only a handful have witnessed it firsthand, and even fewer have made it their job to alleviate it. Karine Polwart has seen pain up close: before she took up her guitar full-time, the young woman from Stirlingshire in Scotland worked with victims of domestic violence and campaigned for better protection for children at risk. Her crusading outlook is apparent in the bleakly gritty songs on her new album, Scribbled in Chalk. Although filed under folk, Polwart's music also draws from pop, rock and alt.country, with a liberal dash of the delta blues to give her stories a little more resonance. With songs about sex trafficking, Aids, child abuse and the death of a Scots missionary in Auschwitz, you'd imagine the album to be a depressing affair, but Polwart's wit, wisdom and spirit turn even her most depressing tune into a hopeful, uplifting experience. "I'm not actually a miserable person," she insists.

Chalked up: Polwart grew up in a tiny cottage near Banknock in Stirlingshire, a place of natural beauty near the Scottish border. Though she lived in a pastoral idyll, Karine was fascinated with the darker side of life and, armed with two degrees in philosophy, began working to help those whose lives were grey and grim. In 2000, having turned 30, she quit social work to embark on a career as a singer-songwriter, joining up with traditional combos Malinky and the Battlefield Band. Her debut solo album, Faultlines, earned her rave reviews in Uncut, Mojo and the Times, not to mention Best Album, Best Original Song and Best Emerging Artist at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2005.

Big fanclub: It's not just folkies who count among Polwart's growing fanbase. She guests on the new album by Future Pilot AKA, and Idlewild singer Roddy Woomble liked her song Start It All Over Again so much he has asked her to collaborate with him on his solo album. She will also join Woomble, Belle & Sebastian and Teenage Fanclub on a recording of Scottish poems. Polwart still lives in rural south-east Scotland, where she writes and records with her partner, percussionist and producer Mattie Foulds.

Hopes and fears: "It's a very scary feeling to articulate the heart of someone's grief when you've never met them before or to sing something that gives someone hope. But I guess I've begun to see it as my job to move people or make them see things in a fresh way."

Kevin Courtney