PAWLING, N.Y. — Pushing 74, Zombies singer Colin Blunstone says he knows the British Invasion band he co-founded with Rod Argent will have to start slowing down sooner or later.

But when asked about his upcoming March 29 induction to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame during a recent interview with The Newtown Bee, the typically soft-spoken and somewhat restrained vocalist, musician, and songwriter immediately bubbled with a mix of excitement and gratitude.

“It is incredibly exciting on lots of levels,” Blunstone said. “To think our loyal and tenacious fan base voted [to induct The Zombies] over 320,000 times over just about a month and then to go on and be voted in by the members of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame who are our peers is just incredible.

“You know, every member of a peer group wants to feel they have achieved acceptance, and I think all artists have an element of doubt in their minds about their careers,” Blunstone added. “And this validates what we’ve been doing and helps us understand that we’ve reached out and touched people’s lives with the music that we’ve written and recorded. It’s a wonderful feeling.”

Anyone locally who was ever bitten and smitten by the lushly layered, keyboard-driven material of the band — or who wants to enjoy an intimate show with Blunstone before he and most, if not all, surviving Zombies gather at Brooklyn’s Barclay’s Center in late March — can see him fronting his own solo band on January 31 at Daryl’s House in Pawling.

As a teen, the future Rock Hall of Famer was attending school in St Albans UK when he was introduced to other members who would soon form The Zombies. After attracting a large local following, the band was offered a recording contract by Decca Records, which resulted in their first single, “She’s Not There” becoming a world-wide hit, followed by the catchy “Tell Her No.”

Three years on the road culminated in The Zombies’s final album, the acclaimed Odessey and Oracle and its monster single, “Time of the Season.”

“The history of The Zombies — and I don’t use this word lightly — it’s a bit of a mystery to me,” Blunstone said. “I think maybe so much of your life and career is really out of your control... it just happens. The band was together professionally from ‘64 to ‘67, and we then decided it was time to move on and try other projects.

After a short break, Blunstone’s solo career began in earnest with One Year on Epic Records, from which the hit single “Say You Don’t Mind” was taken. Two more albums on Epic followed, Ennismore and Journey, which spawned the hits “I Don’t Believe In Miracles” and “How Can We Dare To Be Wrong.”

“I kept working with Rod Argent and Chris White,” he said. “It’s not as though I didn’t see them — we lived near one another and socialized together. They produced my first three solo albums, and Rod produced my sixth solo album, as well.”

Once Journey was finished, Blunstone headed to California, where he signed for Elton John’s label, Rocket Records. He then released three critically acclaimed albums: Planes, Never Even Thought, and Late Nights in Soho. Returning to the UK, he then supplied the vocals for Dave Stewart’s hit version of “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted,” followed by further hits with Smokey Robinson’s “Tracks Of My Tears” and The Alan Parsons Project’s “Old And Wise.”

Blunstone is quick to admit that he wasn't a major songwriting contributor for The Zombies, but he is always prepared to jot down a melody or snippet of lyrics when the inspiration strikes.

"That's one of the reasons why I've always wanted to have a solo band — it gives me an outlet for my songs," he said. "I'm not the most prolific songwriter in the world, but over the years when you add them up I suppose I have written quite a few. I don't specifically write for one band or the other, I just try to channel what comes. Who knows where songs come from?

"I'm not sophisticated enough to say today I'm going to sit down and write a certain kind of song, but it's something I've done all my life. I find it very therapeutic to play guitar — and sometimes if I'm very lucky, a song starts to emerge and it's a very exciting feeling when that happens. And sometimes it happens quite quicky. It's very frustrating, really, because you can wait months for something to happen and all of a suddden a song emerges and you wonder why can't I do that every day (laughing)."

After three more albums, Blunstone decided the time was right to play live again, where he was joined by fellow Zombies founding member Rod Argent.

“By chance, Rod and I got together to perform six concerts,” he said. “That was in 1999, and it was definitely to be just six concerts — no more. And this is why you shouldn’t bother making plans because here we are nearly 20 years later, and we’re still playing all over the world.

“There were two big surprises for us — how much we enjoyed performing live together. It was as if we last did it a week before, but of course it was like a 30-year gap. And we were surprised at the interest in The Zombies repertoire,” he continued. “More and more people were asking for us to play Zombies tracks, even obscure tracks — some that we never even played live before after recording them in studio.”

Since that reunion, The Zombies have recorded three studio albums, including a live album and DVD, Odessey And Oracle {Revisited} 40th Anniversary, from their sold-out concerts at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2008.

Knowing that the Rock Hall induction will fuel a resurgence in interest for the band, especially Odessey And Oracle — which came in at no. 100 on Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 500 Albums of All Time — Blunstone admits he and Argent will need to temper their thrill of touring in consideration of the mileage they have already logged.

“Because we had that huge break from touring, John, we certainly have been a lot more energized than we would be if we had stayed together all the way through,” Blunstone said. “But time is finite. Rod and I are in our 70s, and we are loving performing, but we know we haven’t got forever from a physical point of view. So we probably won’t be able to tour like this for many more years — we will have to start slowing down, I would imagine.

Breaking into laughter, Blunstone added, “I’ve never been in this situation before. To some extent, I’m guessing, but I have to think that at some point, we’ll have to slow down.”

Until then, Blunstone and his bandmates will join 2019 inductees The Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, and Roxy Music as living proof that The Zombies will live forever, at least in the history book of rock and roll.

To grab the last remaining tickets to see Colin Blunstone on January 31 with opening support by Clarence Bucaro, visit [naviga:u]www.darylshouseclub.com[/naviga:u]