Bettye LaVette has had a pretty great stretch of years recently, but she has one regret about the timing: That her former manager, the late Jim Lewis, isn't still alive to witness her vindication.

"Yeah, I'd be telling him, 'I told you I could sing!,'" she quipped in a recent phone interview. "No, I'm sure that wherever he is now, he's pleased, especially with the way it happened. He never tried to get me hit records, but to make me a better singer and entertainer. He'd be happier about what the critics are saying than the record sales. The best advice he gave me was to learn the craft so I wouldn't have to depend on hit records. That worked out well. Even if I never have another album, I can always get another gig. And right now I've got more friends and relatives than I ever had giving all kinds of helpful advice, telling me to eat and rest and all that. I want to tell them, 'I almost died, where were you people then?!'"

For much more, including details on her Carrboro show this weekend, see the interview in Friday's paper.