Interview: Singer-songwriter Paul Carrack

The Sheffield-born singer-songwriter, 58 - the voice on hits like The Living Years, Tempted and Over My Shoulder - is touring the UK and brings his show to the Barbican next month. The Wharf caught up with to find out about why he's still a man in demand and why he's happy not to be a household name.

He said: "This is a great time for me in life and in music. People know the songs, which is nice, but even when I was at number one it suited me not to be really famous.

"I like being fairly well known in the business because that's where it counts. I was never that worried about being hugely popular."

Carrack has certainly been popular with his peers, having enjoyed stints with both Roxy Music and Squeeze, as well as playing with the likes of blues legend BB King. He has also in demand as a top session musician and revealed he recently recorded with a guitar legend.

He said: "I was in the studio with Eric Clapton just a couple of weeks ago, playing Hammond organ on a couple of tracks for his new album. It's a laid-back effort, sort of JJ Cale style, and it was good fun to play on. I can't complain about life when I get the occasional call from Eric Clapton."

The current tour is to promote the album I Know That Name. With a formidable contacts book there's always the chance Carrack will be joined on stage by a special guest or two.

He said: "You never know. The last person to turn up was boxer Barry McGuigan. He came and sang on stage and he's actually got a really good voice. I certainly wasn't going to ask him to leave."

The Barbican is a new venue for Carrack and he's looking forward to it, but admitted London's an awkward place for him to play.

He said: "I've not played at the Barbican before so it'll be nice to do that. But for some reason London's always been a tougher gig for me.

"We've enjoyed a lot of success around the country but it's sometimes been a bit more difficult in London, and I don't know why. But hopefully people will enjoy this show. There's plenty of stufff they'll recognise in there and it's gone down well at the dates we've done so far."

Carrack's songs have found their way into the repertoires of other artists. The Eagles included I Don't Want To Hear Any More on their last album Long Road Out Of Eden.

He said: "I've known the Eagles for a long time and Timothy B Schmidt asked me to give him a song for the album because they'd rejected everything he'd written.

"I sent them a demo, they played around with it a bit before recording it exactly as I'd written it, which is always nice for a songwriter. I was delighted they included it.

"I went to see them at The O2 and was knocked out by them. I was also knocked out by the venue - it's certainly somewhere I'd like to play one day."

Paul Carrack and his band play The Barbican on January 13. For tickets go to cmpentertainment.com.

For a chance to win tickets to the show click here.