Adrianne Lenker is a treasure for the ages 

You could very well sum up their differing approaches to American roots music from how they were dressed. Both wore cowboy hats and both wore trousers, but Adrianne Lenker’s were faded denim, while Lainey Wilson went with shiny brown leather. Lenker, looking austere and speaking and singing softly, played music plucked from eternity, demanding you concentrate on her stillness. Wilson, on the other hand, was here to make the crowd feel good; a little melancholy on the big ballads, sure, but she’s an entertainer in the grand tradition of country music.

You might draw the conclusion that Wilson is the commercial powerhouse (the local ice cream parlour had even painted its window with the title of one of her breakthrough songs, ‘Country’s Cool Again’, alongside an image of her). But Lenker is quite the star: this was one of three sold-out Barbican shows – there was no choice but to squeeze in a matinée, too – and Big Thief, the band she fronts when not making solo albums, have quietly become something of a sensation, collecting Grammy nominations and headline slots at festivals.

I should confess that I had previously contrived not to pay any attention to Big Thief – or to Lenker. In a world filled with indie bands fiddling around with folk there seemed no need for another. But now I can see what I’d been missing.

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Lenker’s Barbican performance was hushed and transfixing; she sat alone on stage for the first six songs, largely new ones, then was joined by pianist Nick Hakim and violinist Josefin Runsteen.