British singer/songwriter Kate Walsh became one of the most celebrated new artists in the U.K. in 2007 after the release of her album Tim's House -- though to the surprise of many, it wasn't her first release. Walsh was born in 1983 in Burnham-on-Crouch, a quiet fishing community in the town of Essex, and she was surrounded by a wide variety of music while growing up -- her father was a Pink Floyd fan, her mother liked Jimi Hendrix, and her older brother followed electronic music. While as a girl Walsh took piano lessons and developed a talent for interpreting the works of Debussy and Ravel, it wasn't until she picked up a guitar in her teens that she began writing her own music.