If the recent heatwave has been an unusual experience for we British, apparently it was almost too much for these visitors from cool, rainy Seattle. First there was Laura Veirs, lamenting the extreme heat and extraordinary sweatiness of the Borderline, and then there was Jesse Sykes, wondering if she had any chance of making it through her set without passing out.

Happily, both artists lived to tell the tale, and each of them will no doubt tell it in their contrasting styles. On disc, for instance the recent Troubled By The Fire (on Bella Union), Veirs's music sounds delicate and vaguely spectral, wrapped in a cocoon of violin, banjo and various keyboards. But in the flesh, accompanied only by the baseball-capped Steve Moore on keyboards and (eccentrically) trombone, everything is simpler and rawer. Seated demurely with her guitar, hair tied back and peering out through a large pair of glasses, Veirs plays simple, childlike accompaniments while singing in a startling visceral bark that could make glasses and bottles fear for their lives. Her songs seem simultaneously complicated and naive, the narratives of Devil's Hootenanny or Jailhouse Fire assembled from twisted dream-logic. It would be nice to hear her with a few extra musicians.

Jesse Sykes is also travelling light on this UK visit, having left her Sweet Hereafter band at home and being accompanied solely by boyfriend and guitarist Phil Wandscher. While Jesse wraps long fingers around the frets of her acoustic guitar, Wandscher roams far and wide on his big black
semi-acoustic instrument, ripping out licks and fills in a biting, booming tone. His string-bending, reverbed sound suggests many an hour spent soaking up Duane Eddy and Roy Orbison.

Sykes suffers a little from being unable to accelerate much beyond second gear, and most of her songs started off real slow before threatening to fizzle out altogether. Maybe her strength had been sapped by the heat, or by the intermittent bickering with Phil which ran through the set like a running commentary. But in her strongest pieces, such as Birds Over Water or Drinking With Strangers, the stately motion of her music serves as a looking glass, letting you peer into the mysterious heart of the song. Best of the lot was Love Me Someday, delivered in a languid, seductive lope, with Wandscher finding the perfect groove on guitar. She promised to bring the band next time.

· At the Maze, Nottingham, July 23 and St Bonaventure's Ballroom, Bristol, July 24.