The lady just wants to sing.

Faye Gregory, a relative newcomer to Whidbey Island known professionally as Valetta Faye, has performed jazz and pop standards all her life, and she’s determined to find accompanists and other musicians to perform with in Oak Harbor, elsewhere on Whidbey or even off the island.

“It’s so beautiful up here, man, but I can’t understand why there’s not more going on here, musically speaking,” she said during a recent visit.

Gregory was born — she won’t say when — in Bogalusa, La., where she grew up, except for a brief stint in Detroit. She studied French for two years at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., and then “started moving around the country trying to get into the musical arena.”

She had no formal voice training but started singing at an early age, she said. She grew up listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae and Sarah Vaughan.

“They were jazz,” she said.

As her style evolved, she began incorporating blues and pop into her repertoire. In the 1970s she went pro, performing in Detroit, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and Las Vegas. She often performs as a solo artist with a piano or guitar accompanist but has sung with as many as 16 pieces behind her, she said.

She has performed with Count Basie and the Jimmy McConnell Orchestra in Los Angeles, and she did a three-week stint with the Jim Dixon Trio at the New York-New York Hotel in Las Vegas.

She bridled when asked who her influences are or to whom she’s most often compared.

“I have artists I like to listen to, but I haven’t been influenced by no one. I have my own style, my own persona, my own stage presence. It’s all Valetta Faye.”

She doesn’t just sing, she said. “I believe when artists write songs, they write them from a feeling, and my job is to bring the song to life for the audience. I’ve been called a song stylist, because I take a song and wrap myself around it, and once I get through with it, it’s also being wrapped around the audience.”

She usually performs covers but has written about 15 of her own songs, she said.

Her stylings can be heard on iTunes, which offers songs including “Always and Forever,” “I’m In Love,” “Here’s That Rainy Day,” “Christmas Love” and “Good Morning, Heartache.”

To supplement the always-iffy wages of a musician, Faye has worked most of her life as an administrative assistant. She took a hiatus from music during her marriage, from 1999 through 2003, but started singing again after she was widowed. A friend in Louisiana who owned a recording studio helped her cut some singles and relaunch her career.

Faye moved to Oak Harbor three years ago from Las Vegas to be with her sister-in-law and her brother, Felton “Hutch” Hutchinson, the former manager of the officers’ club at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Family matters kept her occupied until a few months ago, when she began searching in earnest for fellow musicians.

She got an Oak Harbor business license, joined the city’s Chamber of Commerce and formed a production company, Fayetta 16 Productions, in an effort to bring local musicians together.

“I was trying to market myself, but that wasn’t going anywhere,” she said. “The chamber is going to promote me and help me get in touch with musicians. I’d love to perform every night.”

She said she already has a long list of leads to pursue in seeking fellow musicians.

“There’s nothing in the world that hurts more than not doing what you really want to do,” she said. “I love to sing. I’m good at what I do. I want to be doing it. It’s just that simple.”

To contact Valetta Faye, email valetta240@gmail.com