Conor Oberst, Jamie Blunt, Damien Rice, Tom Baxter, Tom McCrae. If 2004 was the year of Dido, Katie Melua, Joss Stone and Norah Jones, 2005 seems to be the time for a tidal wave of male singer/songwriters with guitars.

"I think there's always been that," says 27-year-old Amos Lee. "But for some reason people want to buy that today. England's always been into the male singer/songwriter thing, you know, going back to Tim Buckley and that kind of thing.

"I think you guys get it before a lot of other places do, but in my case it hasn't been that way. I've been doing better everywhere else except England. But I don't blame that on the people."

Amos is in no hurry for fame. Chatting to him in a Montreal hotel room as he chomps on a breakfast bagel, it's pretty clear that fame is actually the last thing he wants. It's just a necessary side effect of writing and playing songs for a living.

"When Blue Note approached me they were all about making the music I was already doing. A couple of other labels were like, 'let's get you on with some songwriters, do this and that',and I'm not doing it. Because I don't give a shit, I don't want to be an idol. I just want to be the artist I am."

Luckily, CD-buying punters agree.

The 11 tracks on his eponymous debut album were recorded in July 2004 after he signed to legendary Blue Note label. The album draws inspiration from the great American traditions of soul and folk and features guest vocals from his new friend Norah Jones.

"I was signed to Blue Note and she was walking through the offices one day. She heard a little demo I'd done in my bedroom and she really dug it," Amos explains.

She said: 'Come out do some shows', and that's it, man." Amos laughs a lot - a tinkling, unconscious laugh that punctuates his laconic New Jersey/Philly drawl.

He may have toured with Norah Jones and Bob Dylan, but it's just a job, just a laugh, is what he seems to be saying. "Norah says stuff like: 'Make sure you stay true to the people you really feel are on your side'," Amos says. "That's the most important thing."

"I look at the charts," he continues cheerfully, "and the same sort of music is always on top. But there's a lot of small places in America just doing their thing. There's music out there for everybody, you know.

"I just write about what I believe in."

Amos' sound harks back to a simpler time - to the nostalgic Sixties and Seventies when folk singer/songwriters were really breaking through. "I wasn't alive in the Sixties when Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone was number one," he comments.

"It must have been fantastic, when songs like that were being charted." Hopefully, that's a feeling Amos will know pretty soon.