BLACK Country songstress Carina Round will be performing in her home town when she plays Wolverhampton's Little Civic on Sunday, January 25.

Carina, who grew up in the deprived Low Hill area of the city, didn't get out much when she was young.

"It's not the sort of place my mother was willing to let me run around in the streets so all I had was what was in the house, mainly books and records," she said.

"My most prized possession as a kid was a turntable I was given for my fifth birthday."

But Carina has made up for that sheltered upbringing since then by travelling the world gigging with the likes of Coldplay, Elbow, Ryan Adams, Turin Brakes, David Gray, Ed Harcourt and James Brown -

Her debut album, The First Blood Mystery, emerged in 2001 when she was just 22.

Dealing with subject of her father's continuing absence, the album features a display of naked emotion that drew many positive reviews.

Her latest long-player, The Disconnection, was released last October.

"It's still a personal record but this time, it's a celebration of the things I've discovered about myself as opposed to just ranting about the things that bother me," she said.

"Even the title is upbeat - Disconnection is about confronting things like joy, anger, pain, confusion and letting them go."

Carina's main motivation is not fame or wealth, but the desire to connect with her audience.

"I wanna make people feel something," she said.

"The music that I listen to most is the kind that reflects something that I feel.

"After all, isn't that why we all listen to music - to be excited and to be thrown into upheaval?"

Tickets for her Wolverhampton gig cost £6. For tickets or more details, contact the box office 01902 552121 or log on to www.wolvescivic.co.uk

Singer-songwriter Carina Round, who plays a home town gig in Wolverhampton at the end of this month, and (inset) the cover of her latest album.