SHE first came to the public eye in May 2006 when her hugely annoying / catchy (* delete as appropriate) I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) became a smash UK No 1 hit.

Sandi Thom then followed this up with a 700,000-selling debut album and then promptly disappeared almost as quickly as she arrived.

But her seeming overnight success was actually nothing of the sort - before she went global, Thom had been a performing musician for 12 years.

During that period she'd spent time at The Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts, sang in a gospel choir and a bunch of failed bands, landed a publishing deal and written hundreds of songs.

Just one simple idea (broadcasting 21 consecutive gigs from her basement flat on the then headline-stealing Myspace) was enough to prick the ears of practically every major record label in the land. Her single and album were picked up by RCA.

Fame, fortune and world-wide success suitably followed.

With her second album, The Pink And The Lily, due shortly she is coming to play at The Glee Club, Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay, on Tuesday, February 19, at 7.30pm.

Tickets are available through The Glee Club (0870 472 0400/www.glee.co.uk) and cost £10.