A RUN-IN with the local mafioso and learning your venue won't provide a sound system can't be the most auspicious way to start a tour of Russia.

But Sam Brown's band appeared to rise to the occasion and improvised where needed to cover the six dates with style.

Then again, you'd expect this laid-back mum of two to take it all in her stride after growing up in a house which some of the biggest names in British rock passed through.

As a youngster, the likes of The Small Faces' Steve Marriott and Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour regularly turned up at the family home where her dad Joe (a guitarist with three Top 10 hits of his own) had a studio.

It was a great way to grow up," she recalls.

And musicians continue to swarm around her, the latest being Dodgy who are currently recording their newest album with Brown's husband at their home near Perth.

Full-blown fame of its own did not take long in finding the independent-minded Brown, who left home aged just 17 to record her own demo.

She scored a Number 4 hit with Stop in 1989, but failed to sustain the momentum despite her debut album shifting more than two million copies.

To top it all, her mother Vicki died from cancer two years later.

But she continued writing, recording and performing, leading to the memorable tour of Russia in 1997 and gigs in remote places like Chelyabinsk.

It was quite a life-changing experience, but it was very hard going. It was something like a 36 hour train journey across Russia to get to the venues.

We had a lot of mafia types in the clubs and all sorts of problems with drum kits and PAs not being provided.

I never wanted to go again when we got back, but now I would definitely go again."

Since then, she continued writing and recording, and it's difficult to see why she never sustained commercial success with a voice full of soul and sass, somewhere between Macy Gray and deep south gospel chorister.

And the soul influences have triumphed over the rockier style of her younger brother Pete, who has produced her latest album Reboot and the cracking single In Light Of All That's Gone Before.

I have gone more towards the soul rather than the rock, which Pete leans more towards as a guitarist."

Sam Brown plays Huntingdon Hall next Wednesday. Call the box office for details.