VONDA Shepard will always be associated with her theme song and appearances at the bar in the American television series Ally McBeal, but she adds up to much more than her top ten hit Searching My Soul.

Hence Sunday's show (February 18) at Pocklington Arts Centre has sold out, with the audience looking forward to Vonda and her full band performing Tell Him, Maryland, Hooked On A Feeling, I Only Want To Be With You, Baby Don’t You Break My Heart Slow, Proud Mary, Walk Away Rene and You Belong To Me.

"I'm still promoting my most recent album, Rookie," says the 54-year-old American singer-songwriter, who toured in 2015 and 2016 too. "It's over a year, maybe a year and a half since it came out [in fact it was 2015]; I'm keeping it vague because I'm feeling pressure to write another one!

"It's a fun album, and it's always good to start the show with the new material and as the night develops we'll get on to the Ally McBeal songs and have a dance party at the end. It builds up to that point and it's then that everyone dances to all the Ally stuff."

While best known for the series of Ally McBeal-inspired albums that sold 12 million copies worldwide, Vonda defines herself as a singer-songwriter with 14 albums to her name now. "There are people who know me for that, for those intense ballads, who don't even know about Ally McBeal," she says.

"Ally McBeal was 21 years ago. It's hard to believe! I remember walking on the set for the first time and knowing there was something magical about it. I could feel I was having my break-out and I still get to tour because of it!"

There has been talk of an Ally McBeal reunion. "I'm not sure where that rumour started. With me?!! Or someone else? It usually starts with someone saying, 'is there any chance of having a reunion?' and I'll say, 'why not?'," says Vonda. "It would be great to do a special or maybe even a film."

Joining Vonda at Pocklington will be her regular band members: James Ralston, who has played with Vonda for 15 years and also played in Tina Turner's band; Jim Hanson, who has 22 years with Shepard under his belt and performed previously with Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash; and Christopher Hafer, her sound man, who happened to "sneak a nice drum kit on tour" two years ago. "He sat in on a couple of tunes, then five songs, then ten on the next tour," says Vonda.

"I play piano, as you know, so we have the dynamics of vocals, piano, and a full band, and we'll do a couple as a trio, and then I'll sign CDs after the show. It's very gratifying to meet people, who might tell you your songs have helped them through hard times, and you also get to learn what songs people want you to play."

Vonda lives in Los Angeles, the hub of the American film, television and music world. "LA is very strange! You just have to find your spot, whether it's the home you live in or the café you go to," she says.

"It's so diverse that if you just come for three days, you can get the wrong impression. But it has a lot of culture – you have to find it – and I really enjoy living near the beach. I can ride my bike down there and get inspiration from going down there, as well as from the beautiful streets and the trees where I live."

Apparently Vonda has long harboured a desire to collaborate with Stevie Wonder, or so one press story said. "I don't remember when I said that but I do love Stevie Wonder, so that would be great," she says.

"Actually I did audition for him when I was 22, waiting for eight hours and finally getting on stage at about 2 or 3am, trying to sing all sultry and cool. They were open auditions, so there were so many singers there, and I didn't get the job."

Maybe not, but solo success has certainly come Vonda's way.

Vonda Shepard plays Pocklington Arts Centre on Sunday, February 18, 7.30pm; sold out.