HITTING the road and touring must have felt like a tonic for former Marillion frontman Fish in June 2010.

The Scottish singer had just gone through a divorce a month earlier and was recovering from a health scare which could have threatened his career.

In 2008, he discovered a growth in his throat and feared the worst.

“The first thing you think is: “It’s cancer’,” Fish told Weekend.

“I was very lucky it was a cyst.”

But that still meant he had to bow out of the music scene before his operation at the end of 2009.

So Fish’s huge acoustic tour the following year was a comeback of sorts. “It started off as 10 or 15 shows, but it captured the imagination of everyone,” added the 55-year-old.

“The acoustic tour was a wonderful experience and good to get my confidence back and retrain my singing voice.”

The tour spanned 180 gigs over 18 months, but Fish still found time to go diving in Cuba.

“It wasn’t exhausting as you might think.” he said. “The acoustic tour was a lot more relaxed as we didn’t have as much equipment with us.

“We were doing shows at the border of East Germany and getting out to fans we’ve never reached before and we did about 50 shows in the UK too.”

One of those concerts was in back at Parr Hall on May 23 as part of his latest 14-date Moveable Feast Tour.

The artist, who helped create some of Marillion’s biggest hits like Lavender and Kayleigh, will be joined by singer-songwriter Lu Cozma in a show that will reflect both his past and present.

He said: “We’re previewing a new album called Feast of Consequences. I’ve been writing it over the past year or so and am recording it in June.

“So we’ll have a mix of material with five or six songs from the new album and a batch of old favourites.

“It’s the 30th anniversary of Script for a Jester’s Tear so we’ll be playing a few from that.”

Fish left Marillion in 1988 to pursue a solo career, saying it was difficult to be creative, working with the same musicians for many years.

Fish, whose influences include David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Genesis, added: “It was like trying to make a different meal with the same ingredients.

“But working as a solo artist you’re able to bring different things to the table. It’s a lot easier to keep things fresh but I do miss the camaraderie.”

Not that his decision has led to him shrinking from the headlines.

Fish won silver in Sony Radio Academy Awards’ Music Broadcaster of the Year category in 2008.

In the same year, he and Gary Moore scooped Gold World Medals at New York Festival’s Radio Broadcasting Awards for their shows on Planet Rock.

Fish, a former petrol pump operator, gardener and forestry worker, is now celebrating more than 30 years in the music business.

And it was all because he answered the then unknown prog rock band Marillion’s advert for a singer.

“It’s not just a job because I still enjoy doing it.”

Fish will perform at Parr Hall on Thursday, May 23. Tickets are £22.50. Visit pyramidparrhall.com or call 442345