ALL musicians have a special relationship with their instrument – but few have the kind of bond Kacey Cubero shares with her guitar.

As an only child, living in Washington DC, Kacey grew up with her first six-string – treating it as both best friend and confidante.

Now, she admits, she is practically married to her music. And no one is going to come between Kacey and her fretboard.

Understated, almost shy, away from the microphone, Kacey says she has devoted her life to writing and playing music – turning out songs that are irresistibly pitched somewhere between Shelby Lynne and Lucinda Williams.

Her haunting delivery have made her a popular draw in her adopted California, amassing a trophy cabinet full of accolades – with awards for Folk Song and Artist of the Year. Until now she has been an unknown quantity over here – but that’s set to change. This week Kacey sets out on her first UK tour – and on Sunday, that brings her to our county.

So what can we expect? “I play rootsy Americana, which is eclectic and not too polished,”

she tells The Guide from her home overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

“It’s dynamic, with subjects ranging from rebellion and broken hearts to spirituality – and daily life.

“It covers the spectrum to the end of the rainbow. It doesn’t fit into a cookie-cutter shape, but there’s a hungry audience for that.”

With the enduring popularity of Americana and alternative country, Kacey is assured a warm welcome at what promises to be a cheerily intimate show at The Brasenose Arms in Cropredy. The gig follows a set on Saturday at perennial London favourite The Borderline.

So who is Kacey Cubero… and just how did she become so single-minded?

“Being a single child had a lot to do with it,” she says. “I have always loved music and spent a lot of time as a kid listening to records and singing along to pretty much everything.

“I knew from a very early age that I was going to be a musician.

I wrote my first song when I was six… it was about love!”

“Then I played in bands all through college, before packing up my guitar and heading to California.”

Easy on the eye, Kacey is one of those annoyingly healthy and clean-living residents of California who, when not clutching a guitar, can be seen hitting the trails on her mountain bike, practising yoga, or communing with nature by walking on the beach in front of her home.

Heartfelt and candid, her music is universally appealing. So where does it come from? “It is pretty autobiographical,” she answers. “But the themes are common to everybody. There is no place for me to hide; it’s very exposing.

“As a songwriter I’m simple and honest. If I can relay something I’ve experienced through music that resonates with the listener, then I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Determined to be the mistress of her own destiny, she is a one-woman cottage industry, handling all her own management and dealing with the boring but necessary business of being a jobbing musician.

“I’m very independent,” she says, “I’ve gone about doing this in my own way, and pioneer my music wherever I go.

“I’m a self-contained, independent artist. And it has been a struggle. Sometimes it’s hard just to get by and keep the wheels spinning. But normal life isn’t for me!”

And that individuality shines through her music. Her new album Fill Your Cup, mixed in Nashville by Grammy award-winning David Z (Prince, Etta James and Jonny Lang) is a cocktail of raw rocking anthems, mellow folk, back-country bluegrass, and soulful ballads.

“I’m not trying to fit in; that’s not who I am,” she says, showing a feisty side to her otherwise deeply chilled personality. “And there’s nothing contrived about me. It’s not all ‘sunny’ music – there are all sorts of emotions and hard times in there.”

Busily arranging her long-awaited transatlantic trip, she says: “I’m looking forward to going to Britain. I can’t wait to see the culture, share a beer and meet people.

“The great thing about what I do is having people say how much my music speaks to them about things that happened in their own life. It makes them feel less alone.

“If I can carry on like that, I’ll be happy.”

* Kacey Cubero plays The Brasenose Arms, Cropredy, on Sunday. Doors 5.30pm. For tickets, call 01295 750244