She may certainly look the part but,  TIM HUGHES discovers, Lindi Ortega is far from the usual US country star

STRAIGHT out of Nashville, country singer Lindi Ortega is the real deal.

Rocking cowgirl chic in high red leather boots and tassels, and singing songs about love, loss and truckstops she looks and sounds like the all American good old-girl.

So it may come as some surprise to learn she comes not from Tennessee but from clean cut Canada.

A Toronto girl, of Irish and Mexican parents, she admits to feeling more at home in the Appalachians than her native Ontario.

“Nashville is amazing and it has an undeniable history as far as country music is concerned,” she says.

“There's lots of great food and great music. Southern soul food is the best, and some of the top musicians in the world live there. If you like food and music it’s the place to be! There is a high calibre of musicianship there that is inspiring to witness.”

As an independent artist in Toronto, she attracted a cult following, and the nickname ‘Indie Lindi’. Her fans included The Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers, who asked her to join him as a backing singer on his solo world tour.

But country has always been her first love – and it’s an affair which began at an early age. “I was inspired towards country music from my Mom,” she says.

“She listened to a lot of it which planted a seed of interest for me and I gravitated more towards it when I started getting into Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. I loved the content of their lyrics. And there is something about that twang that speaks to me.

“My own music has got a bit of country, a bit of blues, a bit of roots and a bit of rockabilly. I’m not sure there is a name for it. Some people call it alt-country, but I don't really mind what people call it as long as they’re listening.”

“It’s not at all old-fashioned, though; it’s new country - and is more pop than anything.”

How much has she been influenced by her European/Latin American background, I ask?

“I can see some of the old Irish folk song melodies inspiring some of my vocal melodies,” she says. “And for sure, my guitar playing is inspired by the rhythms of Latin guitar. I was taught how to play on a nylon string classical guitar.” Her music has been described as a cross between Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton. For a country singer - even an alternative one, it’s a flattering comparison.

“Yes,” she says. “Johnny Cash does no wrong. He is a legend. He did it right! He was a true original - a wonderful songwriter, a unique singer and a gifted performer.

“Dolly Parton is also legend, and, although it is flattering, she is leagues above me as an artist. I would never compare myself to her ‘cause she is untouchable.

“I think the only reason people compare me to Dolly Parton is because I have a quick vibrato in my voice and so does she. But other than that I'm not sure how else we are similar.

“Dolly is pure country while I am a mix of a bunch of genres and influences. And, again, Dolly is legend. I am not of that calibre.”

This month Lindi returns to Oxford for a gig at the Jericho Tavern. The show will see her playing songs from new album Cigarettes & Truckstops.

I caught up with her on her American tour - just outside of Chicago, on her way to a chilly Minneapolis, a city where the temperatures are so far below zero, Oxford will seem practically tropical.

And when she comes, she’ll be wearing those famous red boots.

“ I genuinely just love wearing red boots on stage,” she says. “It was never really a conscious thing to have a trademark. Red is my favourite colour.

“I’m onto my third pair now. And these new ones have a heel! I'm diggin’ ‘em!”

And she is promising an exciting hoe-down of a show. “Performing live is my favourite part of it all,” she says. “I’d say I give it my all for every performance I do.

“If anyone is at all interested in seeing a woman in red boots sing her heart out for an hour then that’s what you get when you come to my shows.”

Not that everything goes smoothly. “I took an allergy decongestant before a show once and, lets just say, I decongested for the first song. It was really gross!

“Also, sometimes I mishear what the audience is yelling out to me in the crowd. “Someone last night said something about ‘Jamming a tune’ and I thought they were telling me to put on pyjamas!”

Lindi Ortega plays the Jericho, Walton Street, Oxford, on Tuesday, February 26.
Tickets are £8.50 from wegotickets.com