By Nigel Powlson

BETH Rowley's music has a maturity that belies her fresh face and the fact that she's just 27 this month – perhaps because she has grown up listening to classic blues sounds that have become a major factor in her work.

Born to British missionary parents in Peru and introduced to an array of cultural and musical influences, Beth is a singer-songwriter who has taken on board all she has seen and heard.

"My family lived in Peru for about nine to 10 years and it had a profound effect on them and we all grew up with those influences. It was part of our lives but I was too young to have any personal memories," she says.

Her debut album, Little Dreamer, blends blues, jazz and soul with the spirit of a New York gospel choir. It features songs that Beth has co-written with saxophonist Ben Castle (Roy's son) plus "personal favourites" such as Willie Nelson's Angels Flying Too Close and her interpretation of Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released.

You can hear these songs when Beth performs in Derby when her current tour arrives at The Royal.

"My Dad was a real music enthusiast of Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie – old blues stuff and a bit of country like Willie Nelson," she says. "Blues is a big influence on me and at the heart of everything I do. Being on the road is my favourite bit. Studio work is completely different and, although I enjoy it, singing live is what I love best."

A musical career always seemed the right choice for Beth and she can't recall ever considering an alternative.

"I knew from really young that music was right for me," she says.

She formed a band called Apogee – "The point in the orbit of the moon which is at the greatest distance from the earth," she says. "Which seemed a very cool thing at the time. And we said we played acid jazz, even though I didn't know what that was. Five guys and me – one played classical piano and trombone and one was a DJ who stood there with the decks, mixing. We rehearsed a lot even though we didn't do gigs but it gave me my foot in the door of performing live."

Beth was eventually spotted at an open mic night by a major label.

"You go along and if you know someone get a slot and perform a couple of songs," she says. "I had been gigging at those kind of nights for a long time and you never know who is in the audience. I was a little bit apprehensive about the whole major label thing but the guy who spotted me was so enthusiastic that I went with it."

Little Dreamer was a Top 10 hit in the album charts and Beth has since recorded a track for the Keira Knightley film The Edge Of Love.

Now established by her first album, she has the confidence to push more boundaries with a second set of songs that she is currently working on.

"The album definitely got the sales I would have wanted," she says. "It's not an album full of hits and radio songs and it was never going to be in every home but I'm really happy with the way it has gone and it drives the live side of things which is what really interests me."

Click here to listen to

Beth Rowley perform her tracks

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