this is brighton offers a critical view of what's hot for the coming week: Eve Selis and Duke Special will be at the Komedia on Tuesday, July 12 and Michelle Shocked will be singing at St George's Church on Thursday, July 14.

Eve Selis, Komedia, Brighton, Tuesday, July 12, 2005.

Eve Selis has been compared to Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt and Joan Osbourne but has more than proved herself as a country artist in her own right. She is one of the top female artists on music download site MP3.com and has had ten number one songs in various charts.

The California-based singer mixes country with R&B, blues and folk. Her vocals are strong and her band includes some of Southern California's finest musicians.

Starts 8.30pm, tickets cost £9/£11. Call 01273 647100.

Duke Special, Komedia, Brighton, Tuesday, July 12, 2005.

If a musician is known for their bizarre stage performances, you might imagine their music is not up to much. But not Belfast-based Duke Special.

The Duke has used weird and wonderful items (a mini drum kit, a gramophone and cheesegrater, to name but three) to create a compelling sound but it's his songs that take centre stage, combining fresh melodies with heartrending vocals.

Starts 8pm, tickets £8, call 01273 647100.

Michelle Shocked, St George's Church, St George's Road, Brighton, Thursday, July 14.

She was brought up by a fundamentalist Mormon mother in Texas, held against her will in a psychiatric unit and was an activist in the squatters' movement in New York.

Michelle Shocked's past ticks all the boxes of the angstridden, feminist folk singer. Last month she released a trilogy of albums, Threesome, on the same day. She mixes Latin, rock, blues and even Disney songs.

Starts 8pm, tickets cost £16.50. Call 01273 325440.