Maybe it's because she seems like an old soul, but it's a bit of a shock that U.K. artist Thea Gilmore is making her first trip to Canada for the Calgary folk fest, which is also her second-ever trip to North America.

"Most of my musical heroes are Canadian, so it feels right to go," Gilmore says, citing Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen.

Evidence of those very literary and insightful songwriters influence will be obvious when the 24-year-old takes the main stage tomorrow night.

So, too, will Gilmore's unique and uncompromising approach to making music, which, spread out over five albums, has been acoustic, electric, and, on her latest release Avalanche, electronic.

"I don't really like applying the same sort of rules as an album that I've already made," she says.

"I like looking at the body of work that I've got and deciding there and then what they require rather than thinking, 'Well, I made an album that's slightly more electronic or based around drum loops so I'm going to do it again.

"There's a lot of following formulas that work in the music industry and it does make for a boring time."

Which is why Gilmore, whose talent and looks have every A&R rep in the industry salivating, has managed to remain fiercely independent.

"I never really intended to, it's just that they don't really talk a lot of sense ...," she says.

"Hearing someone explain to you that they want to turn you into the next Kylie Minogue, or that they want you to wear short skirts, or that they want you to write songs that fit better on radio, when you're putting your heart and soul into a song, that's not what you want to hear.

"When I started, I was 16 or 17 and arrogant, and I thought I could do it on my own, and I was lucky to fall in with the sort of people who could pull me along with them. So with luck and a bit of belligerence, I've managed to stay independent," she says, before adding, "and belligerent."