Her name is Anne McCue.

She sings like Cheryl Crow, plays guitar like Bonnie Raitt, writes songs like Victoria Williams and looks like Elizabeth Shue.

So why haven't you heard of her?

I've been asking myself that question for a couple of months, ever since I happened upon McCue opening for Dave Alvin in L.A. And I got the chance to see her again this past Saturday at an Americana Music Association showcase in Nashville.

When McCue, a smallish Australian blonde, walked on stage in her Nashville-ish black silk cowboy shirt and strapped on her black Les Paul, I may have been the only one in the audience who knew what was about to happen.

But by the time she'd ripped through her first song, the title track to her sophomore CD "Roll", she had the undivided attention of the Nashville music industry types in attendance.

Such blistering and confident guitar works isn't what you'd expect from this adorable little Aussie, and until you get to the hidden 13th track of "Roll" - a live-in-the-studio cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun" - you'd have to be listening closely to the CD to pick up a lot of the guitar detail.

But live, McCue brings the heat. All of her songs, written in an intensely personal style, are ratcheted up, and she plays with abandon. She handles all guitar chores herself, and requires only a bassist and drummer to back her up.

It was Lucinda Williams who discovered McCue a couple of years ago in another Nashville club and took her out on the road. Currently, McCue is opening shows for Heart - the Wilson sisters being big fans of female guitar work - and jetting off on tour breaks for gigs in England, across the U.S. with Alvin and apparently wherever she can find them.

Maybe one of the Nashville execs who saw the showcase will see McCue's potential and get the girl signed to a major-label deal. She's got to be the most talented singer/songwriter/guitarist you've never heard of.