For many people Ruby Turner will forever be associated with New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Since 2007 she has been a key element of Jools Holland’s Hootenanny show on the BBC which heralds the start of a new year. For the rest of the year she is a regular performer with Jools and his Big Band.

But next Saturday, Ruby will be returning to Clitheroe Grand with her own band for a concert organised by Ribble Valley Jazz and Blues, a rare chance to catch one of the country’s great singers in an intimate setting.

Ruby Turner (Picture: Caroline Harriott)

“I’ve never stopped working with my own band,” said Ruby. “It’s just a question of juggling the diary which isn’t easy because Jools has a very busy diary.”

To be fair, so does Ruby, who as well as singing and songwriting has been involved in theatre and TV productions and appeared in a number of films.

“I’m swapping hats all the time,” she said. “That can be a bit tiring but what it does is allow me to continue to be enthusiastic about things.

“I love theatre but when you’re in a production you are on stage saying the same lines every night. I like variety, I like to mix it up and my career allows me to do that.

“I always want to step back to the music; to sing and to write. Being part of the Big Band is a different vibe, it’s a unit with such power and to stand in front of that and sing is fantastic. But it’s also nice to be able to take it down, to create that intimate vibe which I can do with my own band.

“It is hard work but I manage to maintain the best of both worlds. When I do my own gigs I’m in charge, I’m the band leader, I’m running it, picking up the mood. When I’m working with Jools he’s responsible for things like that. But as any musician will tell you, you always have to apply yourself, a lot goes into a show.

“The bottom line is it’s work, we all do what we have to do.”

Ruby has been doing what she does spectacularly well for more than 40 years. Her blend of jazz, blues, soul and gospel makes her difficult to pigeonhole at a time when it appears everyone wants to put a label on artists.

“That’s good to hear,” she laughed. “All I have ever tried to do is to stay true to who I am and for more that 40 years that appears to have worked.

“It’s so easy to get caught up in the industry which tries to pigeonhole artists; effectively the music industry is dictating what an artist should be and that’s not right.”

Given the respect she has garnered over the years and her standing in the music community, Ruby is forthright in her observations about the current state of the music industry.

“It is very tough to be an individual in this industry now,” she said. “I know there are some talented people coming through and doing their own thing but you have to go out and find them, they are not being pushed. Everyone is on a guitar singing with angst in their voice because that’s what the industry wants.

“Think of the artists who have succeeded over the years and are still successful today. Look at Elton John or Van Morrison. You cannot think of them as one dimensional; people appreciate anything they come up with.

“They are creatives and we want to hear what the creatives have got for us, not what the industry wants you to listen to so they can make money and get artists into the charts and making sure they have so many likes - that’s all so awful.”

Ruby remains hopeful that quality musicians will still find a way for their voices to be heard.

Ruby Turner (Picture: Caroline Harriott)

“But it’s hard,” she said. “The pressure is on for them to conform.

“But I’ll fly the flag as long as I can. I get asked to do all these things which I know are not for me but I’m in a position where I can turn them down. It’s difficult to avoid all the distractions and becoming caught up in all the nonsense.”

You sense that getting out in front of an audience with her band is a way to escape that nonsense for Ruby. With around 20 albums to her name, putting a set together could present a challenge but that’s where 40 years of experience.

“I’ll have worked the setlist out before I go on,” she said. “It depends on what albums I’m working on and what I want to perform that night but you have also got to read the room once you get going. I know what I can bring in if I need to create a different mood.”

When it comes to creating a mood, Ruby certainly does that on the annual Hootenanny show although she plays down her own involvement.

“I’m basically part of the orchestra set up and we’ll get probably two songs so as the main singer, I’ll get up and do a number,” she said. “But it’s really good to still be asked to take part - I’m still hanging in there darling.”

Ruby Turner, Clitheroe Grand, Saturday, September 28. Details from www.thegrandvenue.co.uk