While her sound has inflections of jazz, country and folk, Peyroux describes herself as a blues singer.

Her last studio recording, 2013's "The Blue Room," is a tribute to a groundbreaking Ray Charles album released half a century ago, "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music." But it has a Madeleine Peyroux touch.

Which is? "Silence," Peyroux said. "Lots of silence and just a little bit of pain."

Madeleine Peyroux grew up in Georgia, with stops in Hollywood and New York. Her father was a college professor, and she says she was deeply affected by his struggles with depression and alcoholism.

When she was 11, her parents divorced, and her mother was offered a job in Paris. Madeleine, her mother and brother took off for a new life overseas.

Peyroux, who said she became wild in her teenage years, found solace in playing her guitar -- and she needed it, as she wasn’t fitting in at the strict French schools. And when she was put in an English boarding school, she ran away.

At 15 Peyroux moved out, taking her guitar to her new family: street musicians, who pushed her to develop her singular voice.

Left: An undated photo of Payroux busking on Rue de Buci in Paris.

Left: Peyroux performing with the Lost & Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, a collection of Paris street musicians, in the early 1990s.

Peyroux's mother, Deirdre Westgate, recalls a revelation one evening when she went in search of her daughter among the city's street musicians: "I heard this voice singing 'Georgia on My Mind.' I'll still start crying when I think of that moment. That's Madeleine!"

It didn't take long for critics to discover Peyroux. She has released half a dozen albums -- and now spends much of her time on tour.

Singer Madeleine Peyroux performs at the 42nd Jazzaldia Festival in the northern Basque city of San Sebastian in Spain, July 27, 2007.

From left: Kelly Clarkson, Marc Anthony, Tony Bennett and Madeleine Peyroux appear onstage at "Singers and Songs Celebrate Tony Bennett's 80th," November 9, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Calif.

Singer Madeleine Peyroux performs during a concert in Amsterdam, April 20, 2009.

Singer Madeleine Peyroux performs on stage at the Nice Jazz Festival on July 20, 2009 in Nice, France.

Madeleine Peyroux performs during Francofolies New York: A Tribute To Edith Piaf, at the Beacon Theatre, September 19, 2013 in New York City.

Her new album, "Keep Me In Your Heart For a While: The Best of Madeleine Peyroux," goes on sale October 14, 2014.

Included are Peyroux's compositions, including "Don't Wait Too Long" and "I'm All Right," as well as several covers, including Bob Dylan's "You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go"; Warren Zevon's "Keep Me in Your Heart"; and Leonard Cohen's "Half the Perfect World" and "Dance Me to the End of Love."

Terrell Brown asked Peyroux, who now lives in Brooklyn, "Would you say you're happy?"

"Yeah," she replied. "You know, I like growing up. I like the idea of growing up. I always liked my freedom, and I think I've got freedom right now."

For more info:

madeleinepeyroux.com

Follow Madeleine Peyroux on Twitter (@mpeyrouxmusic) and Facebook

      
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan