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When my producer Richard Murdoch and I agreed to meet Mavis Staples for a quick chat about her Celtic Connections visit a few months ago we expected to be back out of her hotel after 15 minutes. As it happened, we were there nearly an hour. When we left the room we both looked at each other and blinked. We knew we'd just experienced an amazing interview - I have to admit to being slightly paranoid that all the material was on tape. What we didn't know was what to do with it.

Essentially we had to talk to her about the previous evening's performance and the new record. However I was very aware of her story and felt inclined to mention some of the people she has encountered in her remarkable life. What then took place was an amazing story which touched upon her relationship with The Civil Rights movement through to Obama in the White House.

She talked of people she knew - Martin Luther King, Bob Dylan, the staff at Stax Records (where she signed in 1969). She spoke about her relationship with Cissy Houston (Mother of Whitney), Prince, Ry Cooder and Elvis Presley. Finally we heard about the woman who influenced her above all, Sister Mahalia Jackson.

We knew we could certainly turn this into an "Another Country" special. However that would be to sell the story short. Yes, Mavis Staples is an important part of the story of roots music and would certainly be an important artist to cover. (She's just won a Grammy for Best Americana Album). We felt strongly that her story around these songs should not, in our opinion, be limited to people listening to a specialist music show. This is living history which deserves to be shared and enjoyed.

So thanks to some creative thinking by the programmers here at ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Scotland we are bringing the story of The Amazing Mavis Staples to you on Easter Monday at 4pm. At the time of recording I wrote this about that hour I spent with Mavis:

' I felt as if I were at the feet of someone who had been a key witness at the most important movement of social change in the USA over the last 50 years.'