On a rainy London evening at the Gibson Guitar Rooms in the West End, Brandi Carlile, a 25-year-old singer-songwriter from Ravendale, WA, gave a dour-looking mob of journos and industry folk as good a blast of blatant rock’n’roll, rootsy balladry and wistful, finger-picking loveliness that they’ve probably had in ages.

Standing between the shaven-headed guitar and bass wielding twins, the Hanseroth brothers, on came Brandi’s electric, off went her acoustic, on came acoustic, off went electric on a series of tunes delivered with a rawness of feeling that cut to the bone.

 “The English accent makes me nervous,” said the talented Brandi who’s a bit of a looker too. “You all sound so smart.”

Well, appearances can be deceptive, and anyway, by the conviction of this performance, here’s a young lady who knows exactly what’s what.

Brandi’s digital live EP is out now.

Her debut LP The Story is out in 2008.