Judie Tazuke at Burgess Hill

A year after the release of her retrospective album, Moon On A Mirrorball, Judie Tzuke is back with a new CD, One Tree Less – a memory of a very special tree.

Judie, best known for the huge hit single Stay With Me Till Dawn, explains: “Last year a tree in my garden died quite suddenly, and it was a really beautiful tree. It was a tree associated with lots of memories, with the children on it.

“I have no idea why it died. It was incredibly upsetting. And so I just wrote a song about it, about the end of something. Someone thought that it was about a death, and well, it was and it wasn’t. But it was about something that was important to me. It was right outside the window where I sit and write, the most beautiful cherry tree.”

Another song rich in personal significance is Humankind: “I read an interview with Leona Lewis, and she was talking about her feelings for animals and about being vegetarian. I was quite struck by what she said.”

And so Judie wrote a song about Leona and also about her own daughter, Bailey Tzuke, a musician in her own right who features on the new album.

“Having Bailey become a vegetarian, it makes me see the world in a different way. It just makes me more aware of everything. It just made me think that I will be much more thoughtful about what I eat and what I do. I thought that I would make a few changes. I don’t buy any meat that is not organic and that has not had a normal life. I don’t wear fur anyway. I do wear leather, but I am just much more careful.”

Bailey will be joining Judie on tour (Burgess Hill, Martlets Hall, Saturday, March 17): “She will be doing some of her own songs as well and she will also be doing some songs with me.