* In her sleevenotes to the newly released Awkward Annie, Kate Rusby reveals her sixth solo album was "immensely tough to make for many reasons".

* "There has been loss and grief beyond words, all things to make us stronger apparently. Not true," she says, after a period when she and partner John McCusker split up and family members died.

* This emotional turbulence has led to such new Rusby compositions as The Bitter Boy ("I hold the saddest song"), Planets ("now the future's gone, and all behind me") and Daughter Of Heaven ("she's gone to a new place now").

* Charles Hutchinson asks Yorkshire's folk queen to look into her soul before her Grand Opera House show in York.


Putting you on the psychiatrist's couch, Kate, would you agree with the old belief that the songs that really touch the heart come out of suffering?

"There's a lot of truth that great songs come out of suffering but, on the other hand, great songs also come from times of tremendous joy, too. It must the highs and lows."

After grinding to a halt, what kept you going to produce the most complex and complete record of your career?

"Brother Joe - he was fab. If it all got too much, he'd just say let's leave it there and see what tomorrow brings' and really kept me going. Also I am quite stubborn, so I refused to give in. We had deadlines and made them by the skin of our teeth (Do teeth have skin...?)"

Describe the experience of producing the album yourself, after previously having John McCusker at the controls.

"Not easy at all. But in saying that, I have made enough albums of my own to understand and know the process, and I also know the musicians very well, so I had a head start. It's a strange thing being responsible for every note on there though, yes quite strange."

Again you work with an interesting collection of guest musicians, in particular John Hudson, whose voice is as old as a heather moor. How did this collaboration come about?

"It's always lovely to sing with other people. Travelling about you meet all sorts of interesting - we met John Hudson, another Barnsley lad, snowboarding in Andorra."

Who is Awkward Annie, with her terrible skills of animal husbandry?

"Awkward Annie is a northern term for someone who wants to do something their own way, which is always a different way to most people. I was called Awkward Annie plenty of times as I was growing up. I had already written the song but it didn't have a title, and when I sat and read the words I came up with Awkward Annie, and it stuck."

Awkward Annie is a new composition by you but it feels timeless, even chiming with the agricultural contretemps in The Old Man later on the album. Is that part of the skill of contemporary folk song-writing: the seamless link with the past?

"I have never thought about it, I just find songs and write songs and sing them. I have grown up surrounded by traditional song so the style must be programmed in."

Sailors feature again. What draws you to maritime material?

"I don't really know, but they are the songs I favour. I must be a sea-loving romantic at heart."

Where did you find the traditional material this time, such as Farewell and John Barbury?

"Farewell came out of an old ballad book and I wrote the tune for it. John Barbury is one of those songs I've known for years but as Willy Of Wynsbury. I knew there was a version with Jane not Janet and eventually tracked it down - and it's another one with a sailor."

You include a cover of The Village Green Preservation Society as a bonus track. Yet although Ray Davies wrote it with his tongue surely stretching his cheek, it fits perfectly with your own preservation of folk music too.

"This is the track I recorded for Jam And Jerusalem, Jennifer Saunders' sitcom. It's a great song and great fun to perform. It's my nephews Josh and Jacob's fave of the moment. It's another one that I wouldn't necessarily have chosen, but totally love."

Village Green and your duet with Ronan Keating, All Over Again, have taken you into pop territory. Can we expect more of these musical diversions?

"There are no more collaborations planned, but you never know what's round the corner. I loved doing the Ronan song, it was a real eye-opening glance into the crazy world of pop."

What do you know at 33 that you didn't know at 23?

"Well, the first solo album Hourglass was released when I was 23 - a great deal has changed musically since then. I've been working with my boys since that record, so now we understand each other perfectly. It makes recording a whole lot easier and more enjoyable. I produced this one too, so it's different in many ways. I think we're just better at making records now. Oh and l don't look like a poodle any more... I hope!"

Kate Rusby plays Grand Opera House, York, on Sunday at 7.30pm; tickets £20 on 0870 606 3595. Awkward Annie is available on Pure Records