Although she has a parallel career as an actress and television presenter, MacInnes is also widely regarded as one of the twenty-first century’s finest exponents of the art of Gaelic song. She was born and raised in South Uist in the Western Isles, long regarded a hotbed of Scottish traditional music. After completing her education, MacInnes launched an acting career with roles in the 90s Gaelic soap opera Machair and the comedy shows Ran Dan and PC Alasdair Stewart. She also found a niche in voice-over work and appeared on stage in a production of The Well. MacInnes had been singing since childhood and established her profile with appearances on the music and arts programmes Tacsi, Aig Cridhe Ar Ciuil and Bard Nan Orain. Her recording debut Òg-Mhadainn Shamhraidh (Summer Dawn) was released in 2006 by the Foot Stompin’ label. Later in the year MacInnes was voted Gaelic Singer Of The Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards.