Whether it’s rock, blues, soul or country, BeJae Fleming has done it all. Over the years Fleming has made a name for herself all over the country with her energetic and innovative sound.

“I’m not so sure what you would call my sound,” Fleming says with a sweet Southern twang. “I would say that I have a more aggressive blues focus in my music. Not alternative though.”

Fleming has been performing since 1977, writing her own music and captivating lyrics.

During her career, she has performed with talents in the rock and blues genres such as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jerry Jeff Walker, Nanci Griffith and Beau Soleil.

You have been touring here for the last couple of months. How is that going?

Really well, actually. I have hooked up with a group of women called IndyGirl. This started out as an Internet news group to support, you know, conversation about women in music and what we can do to be more visible and how we can help out one another to succeed in this industry. I have been touring with various IndyGirl acts to support this cause. It has been really fun.

What was your inspiration for the title track from your latest record, “Red Cross Woman?”

I took a few years off from my music and got a job with the Red Cross. They sent me to do a lot of United Way speaking. At the speaker’s bureau they told me to think of a kind of innovative way to let others know about what the agency was all about. So I wrote a song. I put in a lot of innuendoes, though, and they didn’t let me use it!

What do you feel you bring to the blues/rock industry today?

Longevity. It is frustrating to me in this industry because it tends to be a fairly young business. It is hard for someone like me to compete with all the young acts. People need to realize that artists really do get better as they perform and build a base for their sound.

“Long Distance from the Heartland” was written about you missing people from back home. When you moved to Ames, what was your first impression?

Before moving to Iowa, I had one gig here. It was a noon gig at a cafeteria at a community college in Davenport. It didn’t go too well, and so I decided that I didn’t like Iowa. When I moved to Ames I was impressed at how neat it was. It wasn’t all cornfields.

Who have been some of your influences?

I loved Bonnie Raitt. She was such a wonderful singer and an extraordinary guitar player. She has a way of expressing herself so well. I also loved Elvis. I wanted to be Elvis. I thought, ‘Wow, how cool it would be to be like him.’

What can we expect from your new upcoming record, “Navigating Limbo?”

This record I am teamed up with a lot of Iowa artists and it’s more of a roots sound. I actually co-wrote a couple of my songs with an instructor and an academic advisor at Iowa State, Christiana Langenberg. The songs that we wrote together are really neat; they have a more poetic ring to them.

What can Ames look forward to when you perform on Saturday?

I will be opening for a guy named Peter Meher, an incredible performer. Jackie Blount, a professor at ISU in the department of education, will be playing bass for me. We will be playing at a fellowship; it’s not a religious atmosphere, just an atmosphere for the music.

What is the story behind the spelling of your name?

My parents gave it to me. Talk about a marketing disaster. It has been pronounced every way possible: “Bah Jay,” “Be Jah.” It’s just BeJae, pronounced “Bee Jay.”