After bursting onto the scene in 2006 with her catchy tune Put Your Records On, Corinne Bailey Rae has become a well known name in the music industry. Jamie Walker speaks to the Leeds-born singer about her upcoming appearance in Sussex.

2006 seems a lifetime ago now but that is when Corinne Bailey Rae started turning heads with her self-titled debut album.

From there two more records have followed, one of which we will discuss later in the piece, and have cemented Corinne as a recognised name in the jazz and R&B genres.

I am talking to her ahead of her show at the Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion, as part of the Rye International Jazz Festival.

There is a distinct buzz in her voice when talking about the performance.

She said: “I’m really looking forward to it.

“I’ve heard of Rye, I know it has a really good reputation.

“I’ve heard a lot about the town as well and heard it’s a great place to hang out.”

There seems to be a lot of jazz festivals around nowadays, something Corinne believes is testament to the influence that the genre has had on the music industry.

“I love that there are so many Jazz festivals now which are embracing a wide range of music,” she said.

“I think jazz is its own hybrid anyway. It comes out of blues and gospel at its roots. It already contains so many different strands and it’s great that the festival can incorporate all those different feels.

“I was having a conversation the other day about how jazz influenced lots of Nintendo games, you wouldn’t think of it but it has influenced so much.”

The show in Bexhill is expected to be very much a greatest hits tour.

Corinne’s last album was 2016’s The Heart Speaks In Whispers, and two years on, the singer says she is glad that not every tour has to be on the album cycle.

“I’m really enjoying not having a record to promote and to just get out and play shows and play a collection of songs that people are familiar with.

“I can tour in quite a leisurely way. I can move between different places and spend more time there.”

However with some time between her albums, Corinne adds that she is hoping to not be away for as long this time around.

At the time of our conversation Corinne is out in America, and as the chat develops it is clear that the travel is one of her favourite parts of being a musician.

It is the exploration of new places that she finds particularly enjoyable.

“I like to go early and spend time in a place and then later in the night be on stage and reference places and have a personal interaction with the crowd.

“We’ve just performed in Vienna and I’d never been there before, but now I know it;s somewhere I’d love to go back to.

“I love playing in Madrid and Barcelona and Tokyo. It’s just nice spending time in a city.”

With that being said, you may end up seeing Corinne out and about in Sussex before her show.

And despite being born in Leeds, the south coast is somewhere that has a special place in her heart.

“I know Sussex a little bit, I know Hastings and Battle, I used to hang around there a little bit.

“I know the area a little bit and in my childhood summers it was really warm, you could swim and be somewhere that was a little more relaxed than the north of England, where everything was a little sweeter and softer.”

I mentioned a little earlier in this piece that one of the things Corinne loves most about her career is the travel.

The thing that tops that list is performing.

She says that it has helped her become more confident in the work she does.

Put simply, and in her own words: “The thing I enjoy most is getting to play in front of people.”