ELEANOR McEVOY, SWAMP HONEY (The Bottom Line, New York)

LAST WEEK over 350 bands from around the globe made the annual pilgrimage to the Big Apple for the CMJ college music festival. A gathering of 6,000 students, industry honchos and journalists raced around town struggling to take in as many “alternative” events as possible. More than 30 clubs participated in the four-night bonanza, except, of course, The Bottom Line. Having enough clout to divert attention to its own affairs, this time it featured the NY debut of Eleanor McEvoy.

Sharing the family spotlight, Eleanor’s brother Kieran, now a native of New York introduced his own band Swamp Honey. Lead singer Dina Regine is skilled at belting out a bluesy bellow and wrote most of the material that has warranted a Sony publishing deal. The band’s playfulness on stage proved contagious – Swamp Honey were a tasty warm-up act.

By the close of the support band’s set, the room was filled beyond its 400 capacity, helped in part by a large Geffen turnout. Wearing a billowy romantic print dress, Eleanor picked up a guitar and began seducing the crowd with ‘Finding Myself Lost Again’, my personal favourite on her eponymous debut album. She swiftly slid over to keyboards for a dizzying duo ‘For You’ and ‘It’s Not Quite Love’. Then handling a violin with fluid virtuosity, McEvoy kicked into ‘Leave Her Now’, again winning a rapturous response.

McEvoy’s musical proficiency extends to her vocals as well. Intense and captivating, she is capable of rendering peaks and valleys, from the Susan Vega-esque ‘For The Music Of It All’ through a majestic a cappella painting of ‘Stray Thoughts’, to a footloose rendition of ‘Apologise’, full of heat and fervour.

Eleanor McEvoy has constructed a repertoire for cross-over success. Shrewdly seizing the opportunity here, she went out on a limb and debuted three songs off her “next album.” Included in the preview were the Texas-barbecue-flavoured ‘Biochemistry’ which highlighted the debonair Noel Eccles on drums, and ‘My Own Sweet Bed Tonight’ a perfect forum for the glistening electric guitar of Bill Shanley.

The moment of triumph arrived when the audience acted like contestants on the TV game show Name That Tune. Hearing only the first two chords, they immediately put their hands together for ‘Only A Woman’s Heart’. No longer a ‘sad song’, the tune has become a marked celebration of success in which McEvoy leads a bright and, not surprisingly, mainly female chorus.

I stayed for the second show, which was absolutely as brilliant as the first. McEvoy established she can ably court a crowd with broad personal narratives, but her distinguishing gift is an inspiring determination to remain whole. Although battles of the heart are ultimately fought alone, Eleanor McEvoy’s music provides a fragrant sanctuary for the bruised and wounded.

No better recommendation is possible, as she proceeds down the bumpy road to stardom.

• Melissa Knight