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The six-foot-tall Orton, a one-time actress and native of Norwich who grew up listening to Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian, Neil Young and the Rolling Stones, was certainly in with the "in" crowd in London before her musical breakthrough.
"We just used to all hang out in the same bars," says Orton, who has also collaborated with techno producer William Orbit and hip-hop outfit Red Snapper.
"Heavenly -- the record label that I've signed to -- they did a club every Sunday night called the Heavenly Sunday Social and the Chemical Brothers used to deejay there. That's sort of how the Chemical Brothers got to be known as well, so it was like this catalyst for a lot of people."
Orton, down the line from a tour stop in North Carolina, also thinks another trendy music genre, BritPop, helped pave the way for her.
"BritPop spawned Oasis, Oasis brought the song back after years of emotion being expressed without words -- by dance music. Suddenly songs were back, and it was allowed. It gave me an opportunity to do what I wanted to do."
Not that Orton necessarily thinks of herself as a folk artist, although she played at six of Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair shows this summer.
"I just see myself as a songwriter. For me, folk is where it's all grown from. I can't explain it. It's just giving a nod of respect to that, I suppose, but not deliberately. It's just sort of what comes out of my mouth. I can't help it really. But I know there are a lot of folk elements in there. To me, at the time, I liked the purity of it, the sparseness of it. I have pulled on a traditional thing and yet I live in today's world, very much so. I do everything that a girl of my age does."
Orton says she has been asked to be part of the Christmas Lilith show at West Palm Beach on Dec. 16 but is unable to take part due to her own label's budget constraints.
Still, she fully supports the concept of the all-female event.
"Something like that wouldn't really happen in England and it was such an uncynical thing," says Orton. "I just think it was a really lovely thing and amazing. Down to the f---in' door people, every thing was taken care of. Okay, so there wasn't any punk rock girls there. It was all a bit girl-with-the-guitar-and-long-blonde hair or whatever, but I really gained a lot from there. Just being around all those girls as well in the audience. It was beautiful and it was so emotional, it was like I had to hold myself from crying loads of times."
Interestingly, Orton -- who's already working on a follow-up to Trailer Park -- very nearly didn't make it to the point she's at now.
"I was thinking of leaving music. I was just not sure that I'd do it. I wasn't sure whether it would come to fruition. It's given me huge faith. It's really surprised me. I thought I was a real believer but I'd look at myself and go, 'Well, you can't have been that much of a believer 'cause you never would have believed this.'"
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