A Sparkling Gem (from Scene South)

"It's always great, we've just returned from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, The Netherlands and all sorts. My feet have hardly touched the ground, but in between I have to do my own shows as well. I'm really looking forward to seeing the band because I haven't seen them for a couple of weeks. (Pause) So where are you from Peter?"

"Ayyycouple of weeks ago I was down there! In Fremantle, beautiful, beautiful. What a gigwhat a gig! Yeah, yeah, yeah then over to Byron Bay - wa-hay, waaaa-haaaay! Love it, love it, love it! What a lucky girl I am!"

"They both bring the same kind of pleasure, but in a different way. The big band, that is Jools's thing, you get a wonderful buzz when you have that mighty sound behind you. When I play on my own it feels like a family, it's a wonderful stew of wondferullness!"

"The reason I put out my last album (Live at Ronnie Scott's) was because there was a few songs that people could no longer get and it seemed to make sense that I recorded them again, so we'll be including them in the set."

(Laughs) "Just me standing there raises the roof - what more do you want?! What can I say? It's the classics, songs that people know."

Who is your favourite from the new crop of British female soul and blues singers?

"What's wonderful is that it is still going and developing and people are embracing soul music. I met Amy Winehouse years ago and now she's become a real phenomenon. I wish her well in her endeavours and that she gets back on the road and makes music. That's all I'm interested in, her music, because I'm not interested in her personal life."

You're known for your voice, are you pleased that you managed to avoid the whole celebrity culture?

"The celebrity culture is such a worry. Gone are the days when it was nothing to do with celebrity at all. We were regarded as musicians and we had to work and pay our dues, some of us had no money at all and that's how I came through. I can't relate to it."

You've put your last two albums out on your own label, have you got any ambitions to discover new talent?

"When I first embraced the idea of setting up this label, which is not as easy as it sounds, the idea was to possibly do that. But I lost favour with it because there are so many people out there who think they will become big overnight and that's not the case."

"I'm toying with the idea. I have a project idea I'm working on, but I'm keeping it underwraps because if it doesn't come through then I don't want to divulge too much information.

"Oh my God, I've had a few. I've had the pleasure of working with some wonderful musicians and I think that says so much. I remember touring with Culture Club, it was an amazing time, if I stopped tomorrow I would have some wonderful memories to look back on."

n Ruby Turner plays The Brook tonight. Tickets are £18 at the door or £16 in advance. Box office: 023 8055 5366 or visit the-brook.com

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