THINK of the blues… what images does it bring to mind?

Grizzled old guys in frayed suits, plucking at a battered guitar on the stoop of their shotgun shack?

Chain-smoking singers from the Delta, Chicago or Harlem hunched over microphones, moaning about their man/woman/job/dog?

Whatever… it’s unlikely to be glamorous. Which makes Ana Popavic all the more surprising.

Exciting, energetic and, shall we say… easy on the eye, Ana is the best thing to happen to the blues for many a year.

Hailing from the Serbian capital, Belgrade, her self-declared mission is to give blues a mighty kick up its flabby rump, make it sexy – and remind everyone how powerful it can really be.

“I am born of modern times, so I think that we should bring blues to the mainstream,” she says. “We should do it by modern looks, grooves, rhythms and arrangements – and that is what I do.”

A resident of Amsterdam, it’s a rare treat to have Ana in Oxford, where she plays on Monday as a guest of the Famous Monday Blues at the Bullingdon, in Cowley Road.

The gig sees Ana plugging her new album – recorded at a lakeside castle in Perugia, Italy – and is part of an epic 12-country tour which sees her on the road almost all the way through to September.

Blending in rock, pop and jazz with kicking soul, this smoky-voiced singer breaks boundaries – and is clearly more than just a pretty face.

And why should you be there? “Because we rock the neighbourhood!” she says.

The fun starts at 9pm.