SINGING about life on the road is an endless source of inspiration for country musicians.

Surely it has been done to death? Yet, with Table For One, Andrews books herself a seat at the very top. It was the song that brought her much attention in Britain when she performed it on Later...With Jools Holland last April, and in the flesh it was stunning. There was a brace of others of similar quality, serving up a masterclass in country songwriting.

Probably a little weary off the boat from Holland, Andrews was perhaps less gregarious than usual, but where it mattered most, her singing, she didn’t put a foot wrong. Her voice has been compared to early Emmylou Harris, and that tone and purity is undeniable. Years of performing, the last ten in a professional capacity (she turns 28 in November), have also given Andrews the power that recalls Loretta Lynn.

Listen to her singing I’ve Hurt Worse with her eyes closed transports you to Tammy Wynette territory, but there is still more: a soul singer fit to burst from her country strappings.

Andrews’ latest album, May Your Kindness Remain, is sonically more diverse, both noisier and more soulful than last year's Honest Life. The title track caught this unfolding. This natural evolution – country and soul being closely interrelated – took her further out and spiced up the 85-minute set.

While the upbeat numbers let the band demonstrate their love of country forms, they could do with playing harder and looser with the genre. More like the solo Rough Around The Edges, inspired by a corkscrew-moustached drunk. Better were the slower heartbreak numbers; Long Road Back To You and particularly Let The Good One Go, which was another that could shuffle into that country hall of fame. Like Margo Price, Andrews is rather too authentic for Nashville proper, but this elfin Arizonan was just right for West Leeds.

Paul Rhodes