THE easiest way to encourage any child to do something is to tell them not to do it. That was certainly the case for Joan Armatrading.

“My father had this guitar,” she tells me, “which no one was allowed to touch.

“My mum said he was in a band, but I never saw him play. I certainly never saw him play the guitar.

“I think it was the fact I wasn’t allowed to touch the guitar that really made me want to pick it up and play it, so I pestered my mum for months to get her to buy me one.

“Eventually she saw this guitar in a pawn shop, which she got by swapping two prams we had at home. I still have that guitar, you know.”

Ahead of her gig at the Towngate Theatre, Joan looks back on her life in music.

Born on St Kitts, one of six children, Joan came to live in Birmingham, aged seven.

A naturally-gifted musician, she eventually taught herself to play the guitar as well as the piano her mum had bought to make the living room look nice.

She left school at 15 and did a number of mundane jobs, all the while working on her songs and demo tapes.

“I worked as a typist in a factory,” she reveals, “but I used to take my guitar in, so I could practise during my lunch break.

“One day the big boss saw me and asked whether I would give his daughter some guitar lessons, which I agreed to.

“But then my immediate boss found out. I don’t think he liked me getting friendly with the big boss, so I was sacked.”

Not that it mattered much, because soon after taking demo tapes to a number of record companies, every single one offered her a contract.

“The process itself was quite easy,” she says. “I sometimes hesitate to say it because it makes it sound simple. But I wrote songs, took them to record companies, I got offered contracts and then I made a record.

“I was never rejected by anybody. I just decided this is the thing I’ll stick with and I made one record. Once you’ve made your first record, it’s really hard work and it wasn’t until I made my third album that I had any real success.”

That was the self-titled Joan Armatrading, featuring her hit single Love and Affection, which launched her career as music lovers fell for the rawness of the lyrics and the deceptive gentleness of the ballad.

“It makes a big difference when you have that song that everyone really, really connects with,” admits Joan, who never misses the classic out of her set.

With Show Some Emotion, as well as hits such as Down to Zero, Drop the Pilot and Me Myself I, her success continued through the decades.

More recently, in 2007, the album, Into the Blues, debuted in the top spot of Billboard’s blues chart, she was nominated for a Grammy – the first British female recording artist to be nominated in the blues category – and she also received the Ivor Novello plaque.

Aside from her musical endeavours, Joan has always been a high achiever. She is one of the few female artists to be made an MBE, was president of the highly-prestigious Women of the Year Lunch for five years, performed for Nelson Mandela, is patron of various charities, and presents on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 2. After five years of studying, she also achieved a BA Honours in history from the Open University.

Now she’s back to doing what she does best, performing, but this time on her own for what she says will be her last major tour.

“Yes, this will be my final major tour,” she confirms. “As well as the UK dates, I’m going to tour the US, Australia and South Africa.

“It goes well into 2015. I start at the age of 63 and by the time it’s all finished, I will be 65, so it’s a very long tour.

“My tours are usually pretty long, which of course is very tiring, but this is different because I will be on my own. Just me on stage playing my electric guitar, which I’m really looking forward to.”

If fans are worried this is the last of Joan, they shouldn’t panic.

“I won’t be retiring,” she replies determinedly. “I will be writing music to the end. I honestly believe that’s what I was born to do. I’ve always enjoyed writing and I can’t see myself ever giving it up.”

JOAN ARMATRADING Towngate Theatre, St Martin’s Square, Basildon.

November 6. 7.30pm. Tickets, £29.50, from 01268 465465 or towngatetheatre.co.uk West Cliff Theatre, Tower Road, Clacton.

November 30. 7.30pm.

Tickets, £30, from 01255 433344 or westcliffclacton.co.uk