SCOTT Matthews is leaving his "shedio" – his home studio – to perform at the National Centre for Early Music in York tomorrow night.

"I've played York, well, not many times over the past ten years," says the Wolverhampton singer-songwriter. "Is it Fibbers there? But I have to say I'm so excited about this gig. Looking at pictures [of the NCEM], it's such an inspiring place."

Matthews is touring in the wake of last September's release of his latest studio album, Home Part 2, on his Shedio Records label. As with its 2014 predecessor, Home Part 1, it emerged from his home-built musical abode at the bottom of his garden, the aforementioned Shedio.

In his own words, Home Part 2 is his "brightest spectrum of light to date". "This last decade has flourished into something far beyond what I imagined and now, as one 10-year chapter closes, I seem to have discovered the key to an even greater musical freedom, which I which I can’t wait to explore," says the Matthews, who made such an impression with his 2006 debut album, Passing Stranger.

Those were his days on Island Records; now this 41-year-old man is an island, making records at home and releasing them through his own label, with fund-raising through PledgeMusic, which facilitates "hands-on, direct-to-fan music-making".

"The way the music industry has gone, this is the way to communicate with your fans now, just as engaging with all the social media platforms is pretty pivotal now as you have to reach your fans any way you can," says Matthews. "Gone are the days of fan mail dropping through your door!"

Home Part 2 is the fruits of the first time Matthews has used the PledgeMusic model. "I'd worked with an independent label for albums but I was working towards doing it all myself," he says. "Everyone in my position has to work this way now, So I started my own record label, as I have the shed in my garden, where I can strike while the iron is hot to write and record songs.

"Working this way, making a record becomes a natural process. It's not like 9 to 5 in the studio or 2 till 10, where sometimes in a recording studio you feel the cloud ticking and that puts you under pressure."

York Press:

Scott Matthews' artwork for Home Part 2

As with Shed Seven's upcoming first album in 16 years being funded through fan support on the wings of PledgeMusic, so Scott Matthews has gone down that route too. "Because it was the first one I've done, I thought, 'let's not go too flamboyant'. So we've had the album available on LP and CD, plus tote bags, T-shirts, hand-written lyrics. I do my own personal note with a wax seal with each album we send out; I even had my own Shedio label seal made, so every album has my own seal of approval!

"We've been inundated with feedback from fans saying they really appreciate the personal touch."

Comparing Home Part 2 with Home Part 1, Matthews says: "The last record was more sepia toned; this one is more Technicolor with a lot of life in it lyrically with optimism in the air, and the music can give you that optimism too."

The touring life of a musician demands living for months on the road, "just dropping your bag and playing", but that makes Matthews all the more appreciative of home.

"When you come home, the family ties are very important. You need those reminders sometimes; the old man keeping you grounded," he says.

"I was born and raised in Wolverhampton and there's always been a temptation to move away but it seems a magnet has always pulled me back."

Not only a magnet has that pull, but so does his wife Sally, who has "seen it all" over the years of living with Matthews in the Black Country. "We got married last year as a testament to our time together; making records got in the way of me proposing earlier," he says.

Home Part 2 feels like completing a circle for Matthews, ten years after recording Passing Stranger. "This record has rekindled my relationship with who I was at that time," he says. "I just felt there was a need to re-connect with it, though I like to think I've evolved as a songwriter but Home explores that connection with my past."

Under The Influence presents Scott Matthews, National Centre for Early Music, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm, supported by Simon Snaize. Box office: 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk. Home Part 2 is available only through Matthews' website, scottmatthews.uk