Interview by Hilary Porter

HE has been making music since the 1960's but blue-eyed soul singer and firm favourite with Radio 2 listeners Paul Carrack continues to thrill his fans.

And now with another hit album 'Soul Shadows' under his belt he is back out on tour with dates at the BIC, Bournemouth on Saturday February 25 and The Anvil, Basingstoke on Sunday March 12.

Carrack rose to prominence in the 1970s as the frontman and principal songwriter of Ace, and gained further recognition for his work as a solo artist and for his tenures as a member of Roxy Music, Squeeze and Roger Waters' backing band, The Bleeding Heart Band.

Great success came in the 80s and 90s as co-frontman and songwriter for Mike + The Mechanics.

Carrack sang some of his affiliated bands' best-known hits, including Ace's "How Long?"; Squeeze's "Tempted"; and Mike + The Mechanics' "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)", "The Living Years" and "Over My Shoulder".

He recently guested on the Eric Clapton album and tour, adding to an incredible CV which also includes, BB King , Nick Lowe, Elton John , The Smiths and Ringo Starr to name just a few.

His output has been prolific. He recorded 18 solo albums but the latest, Soul Shadows was his highest chart entry to date. He may be 65 but Paul is not daunted by a 24-date tour that kicked off last week.

"I use to do 50 or 60 dates but this is 24. I'm getting on now and drawing my old age pension! Occasionally it crosses your mind how old you are but I don't feel much different - I'm just a big daft kid! I'm a little bit more careful about conserving energy but 65 is the new 55!" he laughed.

Despite his success he doesn't take it for granted and is thrilled Soul Shadows has done so well.

"I've had four of the five singles on the Radio 2 playlist which is incredible and it's been a top ten album on Amazon. It will feature in the mix of the show but I have a number of hits to include and 16 or 17 more solo albums to draw on. Deciding what to include can be difficult but I don't want to bamboozle them with it.

"It's been 50 years since I left school aged 15 and I've been doing this ever since - but it doesn't feel like that - it's gone by so quickly. I could never have imagined this; leaving school I was only thinking ahead to the next week.

"My mum dreaded the idea of me going to Germany but we would go and do these residences of two weeks to a month in one place. They would send me the back pages of the Sheffield Star so I could keep up with the football. It was worrying times for my mum and even when I came back I moved to London and lived a very hand-to-mouth existence. Back then in the late 60's/early 70's it wasn't considered the proper way to make a living . For a normal working class family work was a religion and in Sheffield there was full employment. My dad was a self-employed painter and decorator and my mum ran a shop and we lived in the back of it in two rooms.

My dad had an accident that proved to be fatal and it really knocked my mum sideways. My older brother who was 15 took over the shop and only just retired from it last year! He enjoyed it. He's a great guy. He was also interested in music but wasn't able to pursue it running the shop - and he never took his eye off the ball with me. We had a big extended family who were brilliant aunties and uncles."

Fortunately whilst Paul's brother literally 'held shop' he was able to pursue a music career.

"We use to joke that when we got old we would say how great it was . It was a total adventure; I was with my mates and it was a real grounding in the industry.

These days it's tough to find places where kids can perform and it's all about 'fame and fortune'. We didn't see it

like that. We just went out there having a blast! "

So which part of his career has he enjoyed most?

"I've really enjoyed being my own boss for the last 17 years. And I enjoyed working with Eric Clapton for three years playing organ. That's been a terrific experience and I've been all over the world with him with some incredible musicians - that's been the cherry on the cake. I've got a lot of miles on the clock but at the same time you don't always get to see what it's all about flying in to hotels, doing gigs and then on to the next one. "

Outside of music there is precious time for anything other than football and family:

"I'm a massive football fan. Sadly, that's my only main interest as a family guy with four kids who are grown up.

Number three- Jack, is 29 and plays drums . He doesn't sing. None of them will sing. They all say they can't sing but I think they can. My daughter has an MA in performance and is an incredible mimic but she won't sing.

We don't really socialise with rock n roll people. We are a self-contained family. I never wanted my children to go into music. The first two have got proper jobs (as an IT manager and physio therapist). I keep Jack off the streets by working for me and he does some odds and sods with other people.

My youngest has a degree in performance and went to the London School of Speech and Drama to do an M.A. and does a show with puppets.

Me and my wife joke and call 2017 "the two weddings and a hip replacement" year as my two girls are getting married [in April and August] and my wife is having a hip replacement between the two weddings. ..very rock n roll!

I'm very lucky. I'm just grateful I am doing ok. I have two close friends in a bad way and it's quite sobering.

I still have musical ambition and I'm always working on new stuff all the time. It's a good show and we take it very seriously. Where I'm at is a pretty good place to be."