It's a story that will forever accompany what promises to be a lengthy and fruitful career.

"Art paying for art" is how the woman herself describes it, and, sitting comfortably over a glass of white wine in Dublin's Brooks Hotel, New York songstress Nell Bryden is more than happy to divulge the details.

Painting

Some years ago, the strains of funding a music career with less than enough cash in her back pocket had begun to show. Forced to rent out her apartment and move back in with her artist father, the passionate musician dreaded returning to the restaurant industry in order to raise funds for another tour.

That's when she stumbled across a painting in her old man's attic -- one that definitely wasn't his. In fact, it was a Milton Avery piece; an old and forgotten present she had received as a child. And, whaddya know, it was worth a hell of a lot of money. $300,000 to be exact.

"It's a great story, and it's incredible because it's true," says Nel.

"I sold it at Sotheby's for much more than I'd ever get from a record advance.

"There was something so romantic and magical about this story that I thought, to be true to it, I really have to go with the initial gut feeling of why I needed this to happen in the first place, which is that I need to get this music out there. I don't get the stock market, but I do get music."

It's safe to say that the 32-year-old musician made a wise decision. Produced by multi-Grammy award winning producer David Kershanbaum, Nell's new album, What Does it Take, was recently named BBC Radio 2 Album of the Week.

A foot-stomping mixture of Americana and country- sprinkled blues, the record makes a wonderful transition to the live stage.

Over the past few years, she's toured over here nearly a dozen times, all the while catching the attention of the likes of Pat Kenny and Ian Dempsey, both of whom were quick to feature Bryden on their radio shows.

She's hardly surprised when I mention her name in the same breath as another guitar-swinging American this country has taken a shining to over the years -- Josh Ritter.

"The reason I fell in love with Ireland was because the first moment that I started touring here, I realised that people were totally up for the idea of an underdog.

"Musically, they love the idea of a troubadour -- someone going around really following their heart and doing it for all the right reasons," says Nell, who made her first visit to these shores almost five years ago.

"People really listen here and they really give a s**t, and it didn't take long for them to just, really, kind of adopt me. I think a part of it is just that I have a sort of a similar sense of humour to people here, too."

Nell has played in some interesting places over the years. She and her band even made their second trip over to Iraq earlier this year.

"That was a really interesting experience," she says. "I feel like every time I talk about it, I need to preface it by saying that I was never for the war.

War

"I was never for Bush, like, I thought that all the reasons for going into the war were wrong, but the reality was that people were over there and they were working really hard and a lot of them didn't want to be there either."

I ask Nell about her classy fashion sense. Even today, it's clear that she's made an effort. "One of my first words was 'shoes'," she laughs.

"My dad said when I was walking around in Brooklyn, I would stop at a little shoe window and I would press my nose up against the glass and not leave, because I wanted to stare at the high heels!

"I've been very lucky finding the painting, because I was able to do the artist development on my own."

Nell Bryden plays at the Festival of World Cultures (Americana Stage) in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday, August 29. What Does it Take is out now

- Chris Wasse