Mindy Smith live at The Village

“I really didn’t expect anyone to come tonight,” were Smith’s opening words to the sizeable crowd who turned out for her live Irish debut. Modest she might be but she has little reason given her spellbinding performance (helped considerably, it has to be said, by a magnificent mandolin player who accompanied her).

Treading similar country/folk territory to Alison Krauss and Shelby Lynn, Smith’s style is less structured in the traditional sense and more quirky and personal. This can manifest itself unexpectedly – at times she sings loud when you expect soft and soft when you expect loud.

But it’s her rootsy, authentic songs that impress most. ‘Come To Jesus’ and ‘Train Song’ come steeped in tradition and her reading of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ brings a new dimension to an old chestnut. Speaking of which we could’ve done without her version of the over-exposed ‘Summertime’ but her own ‘One Moment More’ quickly redeemed things.