Etta James will perform in the Capitol Theatre next week

For more than 40 years, Etta James has been singing from her soul.

"I started out when I was 5 years old," James said by phone from her home in Riverside, Calif. "I sang in church. And my grandma made me.

"And when I didn't want to sing, because I was looking outside the window and seeing all the kids playing, my grandma would say, 'One day you will be glad you can sing, and you will wish you could play piano.' " She added with a laugh, "And I tell you now, I do wish I could play piano. I'm 67 years old, and when I get tired on stage, I look at the piano bench and wish I could go over there and sit down."

Throughout her life, James has been revered as one of the queens of soul, and rhythm & blues. She's earned two Grammys, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy Recording Arts and Sciences, a load of W.C. Handy Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

James has inspired singers ranging from Janis Joplin to Melissa Etheridge, ever since her first Top 40 hit, "All I Could Do Was Cry," back in 1960. Many more hits followed over the next decade — "If I Can't Have You," "Something's Got a Hold On Me," "Pushover," "Tell Mama" . . . and, of course, "At Last."

While James appreciates the recognition, she doesn't brag about it. "I forget what awards I have," she said with a laugh. And then, speaking with an exaggerated uppity accent for comic effect, she added, "I'm not the type who points out and says, 'That's my award and there's my other award and here's my other award.' I just don't do that."

Still, James knows the importance of music. "As a grandmother, I am making sure I get all my grandchildren's butts in music. It will do them some good."

Lately, James has seen a resurgence in her career. "It's like people are shooting things at me from all over the place," she said, laughing again. "I'm even working out a deal with Starbucks, to make an album for them."

What really tickles James is that she's put the finishing touches on her new album, "Hope for a Miracle," which will be released in October. The album is the follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2004 release, "Blues to the Bone."

"I picked 11 songs that I liked and gave them that Etta James thing," she said. "They were all written and sung by men before. I don't know. There is just something about a man's song. Maybe it's stronger. I don't know.

"I do know that I like singing men's songs more than women's song. I guess it's my way of telling the women that they, too, can be strong."

The track list is being kept secret, although James allowed one song title to be mentioned — Frank Sinatra's "All the Way," which peaked for Sinatra at No. 2 on Billboard's Top 100 chart back in 1957.

"I like singing that song," she said. "It goes back to that Etta James thing."

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If you go

What: Etta James & the Roots Band, Bobby Murray

Where: Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South

When: Thursday, 8 p.m.

How much: $49-$59.50 (a portion will be donated to the 2006 Utah Arts Festival)

Phone: 355-2787 or 888-451-2787

Web: www.arttix.org

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E-mail: scott@desnews.com