by Colin IrwinFrom Banknock in Stirlingshire, Scotland, Karine Polwart was a late developer in musical terms; she was nearly 30 before she became a professional, nervously launching a career initially built on traditional Scots music, for which she showed such natural aptitude. She also began putting her faith in her own songs and later remodeled herself as a singer/songwriter. Many of the songs she subsequently wrote were drawn from her experiences as a social worker specializing in domestic and child abuse cases for the Scottish Aid women's movement. She'd previously earned a politics and philosophy degree at Dundee University, worked in a primary school and played in a variety of semi-pro bands before coming to more prominent attention in the groups Malinky and MacAlias. Malinky, in particular, gained a strong following after two well-received albums, Last Leaves (2000) -- which includes her first recorded original song, the trad-styled "T...