Singer-songwriter Judith Owen speaks ahead of Shrewsbury show

Seriously. It is called 'Hello Who Is This Again?' - look it up. It actually has some very valid points which I can understand. But this didn't stop it filling me with dread.

But what followed was a long, rather relaxed conversation between two people who were happily talking about family, music greats and battling depression.

It turns out Judith felt her show in Berlin the previous night was one of her best. She said: "Some evenings just make you feel like the luckiest person in the world. Especially with those kinds of musicians."

She is talking about Leland Sklar, one of music's most ubiquitous guitarists, who started his career as a bassist for James Taylor: "I met Leland because he was working on a comedy record with my husband at the time and it was just instant. He is a very special human being but his musicality is on another level altogether.

"I need to be quite close to Leland on stage because we are very intertwined musically. Then for more intimacy the other musicians are practically wrapped around the grand piano - where I'm sat. It's a very intimate set-up."

Her husband, she casually mentions, is comedy legend Harry Shearer - known for his voice work on hit cartoon The Simpsons and being part of the band in cult hit This Is Spinal Tap.

But back to music legends; she first worked with Leland on her eighth album, Ebb & Flow (2014) which, she told me, was inspired by a childhood memory: "I have this amazing memory of listening to James Taylor on a typical Sunday drive with my parents and sister. We'd listen on cassette and everybody would sing along. It is one of my sweetest family memories and one people can associate with.

"When my dad died I just wanted to make an album that was a love letter to that time in my life as a kid with my family and that very tender memory - which means so much to me because it is one of the few I have."

Although surrounded by the sound of other instruments the core of Judith's work comes from her ethereal voice and piano: "The other musicians are there to just give the sound texture and dynamics, not to just cover it in sound. I love the dynamics of music and everything about this music is personal and intimate.

"I like to include the audience by talking about the story of a song which makes for a very personal show. I've made those albums with everything on it but the kitchen sink and they lose their humanity."

Judith Owen has battled depression and she toured a show with Ruby Wax called Losing It! based around exactly that. "What I feel was most important about the show was how it showed it is okay to talk and laugh about mental illness," she adds. "We all struggle to talk about it and as a performer my job is to say something substantial and to talk about things that people can't say easily. So I am damn well going to talk about things that are important - like depression.

"With issues like depression it is important to open up and give people validation, that they are not alone, that they need to talk to other people who have it and that the biggest part of living with it is to talk about it.

"I am never anything other than glad that I have music which has saved my life, but also allows me to connect with human beings and share. It is the most amazing thing to resonate with someone through music."

I would urge people to make their way to Henry Tudor House in Shrewsbury on November 15 to hear her graceful yet punchy voice and see what will most likely be a profoundly personal show.

By Bram Welch