After Judy Collins arrives at a venue, one of the first things she does is “create a show that I’ve never done before,” she says. Like Grateful Dead-style jam-bands, this iconic folk singer never plays the same setlist twice.

She says, “It’s taking a new look at what’s there and making it fresh and vibrant for myself and the audience. Please don’t repeat yourself all the time. That’s boring for the audience, you know? And it’s boring for me!” [Laughs]

Going through her lyrics and different songs, Collins thinks of stories from her life to tell between songs that night. And a couple jokes to tell, too.

In addition to her angelic singing voice and feel for a song, Collins’ onstage banter is one of her strengths as a performer. “And when I rearrange the sequence [of songs], I think of different stories,” she says.

For the setlist, she thinks about where to put tentpoles from her career, like “Both Sides Now,” the harpsichord-spangled folk-pop hit from her 1967 album “Wildflowers.” To record the Joni Mitchell-penned “Both Sides Now,” Collins recalls, “we went to the big studio in New York, CBS Studio, where Sinatra always recorded. And that in itself was a thrill.”

“Wildflowers’ featured two songs written by noted tunesmith Leonard Cohen, “Priests” and “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.” The LP also contained the first three songs Collins wrote: “Albatross,” “Sky Fell” and “Since You Asked.” The latter, she says, “was the song that I wrote after Leonard Cohen asked me why I wasn’t writing songs.”

In February, a live performance of Collins singing the “Wildflowers” album backed by an orchestra in New York was filmed for TV. On May 30, “Judy Collins: Wildflowers in Concert” will premiere on PBS.

Asked if the decades brought her new perspectives on performing that material, Collins says, “Oh, I don’t know about that. Time marches on, you keep singing and that’s life.”

Back in the day, Collins was on Elektra Records, the same imprint as fellow quintessential ‘60s acts like The Doors and Love. Elektra founder Jac Holzman signed her after another singer called Holzman and said, “I found your Joan Baez,” referring to another era-defining folk music star.

Like many children of the 1970s, I was first introduced to Collins through her many appearances on “Sesame Street” and her appearance on “The Muppet Show.”

“I was very good friends with Jim Henson,” Collins says of the Muppets creator. “I loved him. He was wonderful. We counted up, and I did 16 different scenes, with Bert and Ernie and everybody of the course of that time. I even sang an aria with Snuffleupagus.”

Although her versions of “Both Sides Now” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” won Grammys, Collins says she never received a trophy for either.

“Because although I was given the Grammy in intention,” she says, “the publisher always gets the Grammy not the singer. Did you know that? I’ve tried to get them to do it, but they won’t do it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s an insult. And I don’t know who out there has recorded a song that got a Grammy and did not get the little statue.”

According to Collins, she’s never made a penny in royalties from either “Both Sides Now” or “Send in the Clowns” either

“Because we don’t have a performance royalty in this country,” Collins says. “They only have the royalty for the publisher of the song. Sinatra was in the same boat. I once read a big piece in the [New York] Times written by his daughter, Nancy, about this situation. She said her father never made a cent on the songs that he made so famous, because there’s no performance royalty.”

Being on the wrong side of music-biz regulations hasn’t completed soured Collins on industry accolades. Her 2022 album “Spellbound” was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Folk Album category, an award that eventually went to up-and-comer Madison Cunningham.

“It’s always important,” Collins says of the recent nomination. “It’s a wonderful feeling. We get to go to the Grammys and have a good time.”

A standout “Spellbound” track, “When I Was a Girl in Colorado,” has been streamed more than 650,000 times on Spotify.

Along with her own music, Collins is famous for being the inspiration for a rock classic: Crosby, Stills & Nash’s 1969 hit song “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” Around that time, she and singer/guitarist Stephen Stills had been dating.

“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” became Crosby, Stills & Nash’s most enduring and infectious hit. Although Collins and Stills parted ways romantically, a friendship and musical connection remained. In 2017, they released the album “Stills & Collins,” which they toured in support of as a duo for around 115 shows together.

Of hearing “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” for the first time, Collins recalls, “Well, I didn’t know about it. And we were breaking up and I was in Santa Monica at the Civic Center in May of 1969. We had just kind of said, you know, alright, let’s cool it.

“But he came to see me, and he brought me a bunch of roses for my birthday. He bought me a beautiful old Martin [acoustic] guitar, which of course I still have. And he sang me the song, and we both were in tears. And I said, ‘You know, it’s a gorgeous song but it’s not going to get me back.’” [Laughs]

Judy Collins performs 7:30 p.m. May 22 at Mars Music Hall at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Tickets are $25 and up (plus applicable fees) via the VBC Box Office, address 700 Monroe St., and ticketmaster.com.

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