BARBARA Dickson had been dubbed the most successful Scottish female artist of all time, and yet the trappings of fame and celebrity are concepts completely alien to her.

Utter the word star at your peril– she just cannot abide the label.

“I’ve never been a star. I don’t see myself in that way and I never have,” she explains in her soft, melodic voice.

“I never had a house with a swimming pool and I never wanted to let people think I was anything more than they were. Celebrity is a hugely embarrassing label.”

A precocious child, she began studying piano at the age of five and by 12 had taught herself to play the guitar. She discovered folk music while at school which led to floor spots singing at her local club.

Her life as a ‘travelling folk musician’ was thrust in an unexpected direction when old friend and playwright Willy Russell offered her a role in his 1974 Beatles’ musical ‘John, Paul, George, Ringo… and Bert’ . She went on to win an award for Best Actress in a Musical from the Society of West End Theatres for her performance in another of Russell’s productions in 1983: Blood Brothers.

But back to the 1970s. After seeing Barbara on stage, impresario Robert Stigwood, the head of RSO Records, signed the young woman to his label. She went on to enjoy a prolific pop career.

And yet while many would have sacrificed mother and father at the altar of stardom, not even promises of exposure or a career stateside could have tempted her out of a “normal” and grounded existence. She refused to get caught up in a show business circus.

“Celebrity always bothered me. I had a manager many years ago who was pushing me in that direction. I’ve made mistakes in my career and I’ve gone ‘I shouldn’t have done that’; but in the main I’m still the same person I always was.”

Barbara has recorded 29 albums throughout her career. Her latest, Winter, was released last year.

Despite a long and glorious foray into pop, Barbara has returned to her folk roots. The genre is much more age-appropriate and suited to her temperament and standing (she received an OBE in 2002.)

“It would be most unseemly for a person in their 60s to do pop music.”

Barbara Dickson will perform with Nick Holland at the Village Pump Folk Festival on Friday, July 24. To book tickets go to www.villagepumpfolkfestival.co.uk.