LITTLE more than a decade ago Mary Black was just another Irish folkie with a painfully pure voice and a growing reputation.

Today she's a giant of the music world who has recorded with everyone from Van Morrison to Joan Baez but she can still walk down the street without provoking a second glance.

And Mary wouldn't have it any other way. As she got ready for her latest UK tour, a series of gigs that bring her to Bournemouth Pavilion on Sunday, she told me: "I was never hugely ambitious, not like these girl bands who just want to be famous.

"That was never on my agenda. All I ever wanted was to get out and sing and I was delighted that people came to listen."

To this day Mary is still just as happy stepping in as guest vocalist with a bunch of local musicians in some out-of-the-way Irish pub as she is playing the Royal Albert Hall in London.

"Sometimes people come in, maybe tourists or people who've seen me on TV or in concert, and they're going, 'Oh my God, it's Mary Black'.

"But the local people think nothing of it. It's just what I do. It's what I've always done."

The latest tour follows the recent release of a major "Best Of" album featuring favourite tracks from her back catalogue. More excitingly perhaps, it also features a bonus CD called Hidden Harvest - a collection of largely unheard gems.

The material includes unreleased studio recordings, live numbers and tracks licensed from other labels . Among them are duets with Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, Delores Keane and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

"I've been very lucky. I've worked with some amazing people over the past 10 years or so," says Mary.

Mary Black plays the Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth on Sunday, October 20. For tickets and information call 01202 45456.