ONE of the greatest blue-eyed soul voices, a distinguished front man and an ever in-demand musician’s musician, Paul Carrack, is striding into 2016 on a hot streak of creativity that shows no signs of slowing.

He plays Cardiff’s St David’s Hall next week as part of his current tour, performing classic hits The Living Years, How Long? and Over My Shoulder, as well as material from his new album, Soul Shadows.

Soul Shadows follows Carrack’s starring role as a member of Eric Clapton’s touring band, handpicked by the guitar legend just as he has been over the years by everyone from Elton John to BB King.

Soul Shadows features ten new Carrack compositions. Most of the instrumentation is by Paul himself, working in his newly-refurbished home studio, with his son Jack once again joining him on drums. It was the perfect setting for songs to burst spontaneously into life.

Andy Howells recently put questions to the ex-Ace, Squeeze and Roxy Music man: I attended one of your shows a few years ago, it was a fabulous concert, but it must be hard for you to know what to leave out?

It is. We have a lot of songs to choose from but we try to keep a balance between the new songs from Soul Shadows, which we are all excited about, and the songs the audience are more familiar with. Fortunately, the new songs are all working great live and going down well, but we’d be hanged, drawn and quartered if we didn’t play How Long, Over my Shoulder, Living Years and Eyes of Blue for instance.

Do you feel you’re in a good place with your music career?

Very much so. I am in an enviable position that many good artists and musicians would love to be in. The main thing is I have a platform to continue making music, performing, writing and producing new music and earning a crust which is all an artist really wants. It didn’t come on a plate though. Takes a lot of work and attention to keep the show on the road. I’ve no desire to be famous, just the opportunity to keep doing what I love.

Are there any new recordings or projects you are working on at the moment?

Soul Shadows seems to be doing well on the radio, but our focus is on our 40-date tour into March. In April I’ll be back with Eric Clapton for a short tour of Japan.

What can fans expects from your forthcoming Wales dates?

Hopefully a great show, a six-piece band and a cross section of material from my career old and new. Some big old hits and some new songsmaterial from Soul Shadows.

l Paul Carrack plays Cardiff’s St David’s Hall next Wednesday. Visit stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk