Back in the 1960s, singer-songwriters such as Nick Drake or the Incredible String Band simply emerged through the folk scene and found their place alongside the best rock bands of the day. Now, in the era of selective marketing, it's more complicated. Acoustic and roots-influenced experimental artists can easily be ignored, and the Twisted Folk shows are designed to show that there is a new, alternative scene that in many ways echoes those 1960s experiments. The first tour included strong British singer-songwriters, and now comes an ambitious follow-up to showcase some of the better, but lesser-publicised Americans.

The tour's main band are Vetiver, a five-piece from the San Francisco Bay area, who look and sound as if the 1960s had never ended. They sat on stools, sporting long hair, beards and head-bands, strumming guitars.

Their songs were equally laid-back, with the gentle vocals of Andy Cabic matched against finger-picking acoustic guitar duets, a tasteful hint of slide guitar and minimalist drumming, and simple, sturdy cello lines from Alissa Anderson.

Back home, they've been compared to Drake and Cat Stevens, but there were also similarities with early Neil Young, and a dash of blues or gently stomping jug band tunes in their deceptively slick, efficient playing.

M Ward (as Matt Ward likes to be called), was far more original. A guitarist from Portland, Oregon, he started out solo, ambling around the stage playing an electric guitar solo that ranged through blues and ragtime to echoes of John Fahey. Then he showed off his harmonica work, and eased into an unlikely, gently crooned treatment of Bowie's Let's Dance, before bringing on a backing trio powered by an inspired female drummer, Rachel Blumberg.

Ward turned up the volume for a selection that sounded more like Twisted Country Rock, then calmed down for an equally unexpected gospel finale. It's unfortunate that he won't be playing every night of the tour.

· At the Grand Ole Oprey, Glasgow, tomorrow. Box office: 0141-429 5396. Then touring.