Curtis Stigers hit the big time with pop songs such as I Wonder Why and You’re All That Matters To Me, before reinventing himself as a jazz singer. Ahead of tonight's Kent gig he talks to about his music, pubs and teenage daughters.

When I showed up on the scene in the early 1990s I was making pop and soul records...

I have continually evolved and grown and it has been fun for me. It’s what keeps me going. I get bored doing the same thing over and over again. I wouldn’t want to just play my greatest hits – but of course I still play You’re All That Matters To Me!

Since 2000 I have been signed to a jazz label...

I grew up studying jazz music – I’m not just trying to be a dilettante. I went from selling millions of records and performing in arenas and stadiums to making little jazz records because that was the thing I wanted to do. The records I do I take apart and put them back together in more of a jazz form. They are the songs that a lot of people know. You can sing them walking down the road.

We’re not navel gazing...

I fly across the Atlantic for my audience. We try to entertain and for people to enjoy our music. We take our music seriously but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

I really enjoy being in front of an audience...

There’s a bit of chatting. Jazz and really all the music I have been a fan of has an improvisational element to it. I love that. We can go off at a tangent, or I can stop the band and do something else. There’s an improv element to what we do which makes it interesting to me. So it isn’t exactly the same every single night.

I co-wrote a song on the TV show Sons of Anarchy, you may not have heard of it over there...

We often do the theme song for that in the show because most people know it.

My daughter is 16 so I like to keep my tours short...

She’s a teenager – she’s very focused and a great student. She wants to be a ballet dancer. She’s got something that she’s really passionate about. I am away a third of the year at most but at various times – I haven’t been away from her for more than two weeks at a time in her whole life. You only get one shot at it as a parent, so I don’t want to miss the time. We get on really well too.

Kent is beautiful...

I’ve played at the Assembly Hall Theatre several times so I know it pretty well. I also love English pubs and we try to seek out nice ones. We found one 20 minutes from Tunbridge Wells before – the Wheatsheaf in Bough Beech – which has a lovely old fireplace with links to Henry V (the building is believed to have been Henry V’s hunting lodge). We love a good pub lunch and I’m a great fan of British ale.

* Curtis Stigers first appeared on the scene back in the early 1990s with hits I Wonder Why and You´re all that Matters to Me.

* His debut album sold 1.5m records and was followed with a string of hit singles across the world.

* He may not be topping the charts now but Curtis, who lives in Idaho, has released new work almost every year since he started his recording career 23 years ago.

* With his rich singing voice, he has also released seven jazz albums to date and has won a clutch of awards in the genre.

* His show at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells on Wednesday, July 20, is presented in association with the Rye International Jazz and Blues Festival.

* Hot on the heels from a sell-out series of shows at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz club in London, he will be performing with his band at 7.30pm, plus a support act. Tickets from £32.

* For details go to assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk or call 01892 530613.