CAROLYN Griffey admits she has to laugh when people refer to her as the new member of Shalamar.

“It does make me chuckle,” she said. “I understand why people say that but I have been with the band now for 16 years so I don’t really think I’m that new a member any more.”

Carolyn along with Jeffrey Daniel and Howard Hewett are back in the UK for the second time this year, this time touring to mark the 35th anniversary of the band’s album Friends.

Featuring songs such as There It Is and I Can Make You Feel Good, the album was a major hit in the UK and the band retains a devoted following to this day.

And Carolyn is one of them. Her father Dick was the talent co-ordinator for the hit US TV show Soul Train. He then set up his own record label, Solar, and created Shalamar.

“As a little girl Shalamar were my absolute favourite group,” she said. “A lot of people were into Michael Jackson or the Osmonds but they were my all time favourites

“So for me to go from that little girl with the badges and the T-shirts and all the memorabilia plastered all over her room and friends teasing her at school, to be a part of that whole thing now is just something I could never even have dreamed about.”

Carolyn was invited to join the band in 2001.

“It’s a really amazing story but now I don’t think about that side of it,” she said. “But it is an honour to be able to work with people I have such a long relationship.

“We did a show in California recently and I’d not seen these girls since high school and they used to tease me about how I was a big Shalamar freak,” said Carolyn. “They got to come to the show and were on stage during soundcheck and they were just blown away by it. They were like ‘how is this happening?’.”

Carolyn admits that she has had to put the superfan aside now that’s she’s a key member of the band.

“I suppose I lost the fan girl quite a few years ago,” she said. “It’s business when I’m part of the band. The reality sets in.

“Having said that, when I get on stage there have been times when I have looked to my left and then to my right and gone ‘OK’ and had to bring myself back from thinking ‘I’m here in between two legendary people in musical history’.”

Jeffrey Daniel in particular has played a major role in dance and soul music. Who can forget seeing moonwalk on Top of the Pops for the first time? Daniel actually taught Michael Jackson how to moonwalk.

Carolyn has just finished recording a new song with the band which will feature on the tour.

“That creates a whole other excitement,” she said. “For the first time I’m not singing parts from someone else, and the great thing about it is that it does sound like Shalamar 2018 without it being contrived.

“I don’t look at it as though I replaced anyone. There was a position to fill and now I’m celebrating a great legacy and great musical lineage which I’m also part of. Now we can take it to next generation.”

Shalamar, Preston Guild Hall, Saturday, November 18. Details from the box office on 01772 804444 or www.prestonguildhall.co.uk