SINCE she was a small girl, it was obvious that Eve Selis had a big voice and talent to match.

From singing songs at family get-togethers to appearing in her church choir, the San Diego musician seemed bound to take to the stage.

But she almost chose a different direction.

“I was really into biology and I was considering being a marine biologist,” she says. “The coastline’s right here next to my house and I think when you have that you dream these big dreams. We’re different that way in California.”

Happily for her fans Eve chose music and teamed up with guitarist and song-writing partner Marc “Twang” Intravaia to make a name for herself as “the queen of roadhouse rock”.

“We call our music ‘roadhouse rock’ because we couldn’t find a place where we fit properly that already existed — it’s an amalgamation of folk, country and blues,” she says.

Eve started singing professionally in the 80s, when “there were some great bands and some great songs, but most of them were just... bad,” she says wryly.

“Then I felt that in the 90s rock and roll got quite boring, so when we started writing we thought we’d add all these different textures to make it more interesting.”

She has become a regular at the Met, which she describes as “small enough to be intimate but big enough to feel like you’re playing a big show” and reveals that her pre-show ritual includes saying a prayer and drinking a cup of tea, showing an Anglophile streak.

“Why does tea always taste better in the UK than in the US?,” she asks, before going on to say that that isn’t the only difference between the two countries.

“The audiences in the UK really want to hear the back story. They’re interested in what you have to say. In Britain they’re a lot more reserved. The first time we played in Bury we thought people were just clapping to be polite, but then after the show I invited people to come and say hello and every single person there did.

“They were coming up and saying how much they enjoyed the show and I was thinking maybe it wasn’t so bad after all!”

* Eve Selis plays the Met, Market Street, Bury, tomorrow. Tickets cost £9. To book visit themet.biz or ring 0161 761 2216.