Roberts' first released recordings were on the album Intuition, a collection of songs by various South Yorkshire folk artists which also included her friend Kate Rusby.

Roberts and Rusby formed the band Equation,[3] along with Devon-based folk musicians the Lakeman Brothers (Sean, Sam and Seth).

This led to the group being signed to Blanco y Negro Records / WEA by Geoff Travis.

They released two albums as a duo, titled 1 and 2, before taking time away from the road to start a family.

She took part in the Cecil Sharp Project in March 2011, a multi-artist residential project organised by the Shrewsbury Folk Festival to create new works based on the life, work and collecting of folklorist Cecil Sharp.