It’s really strange when I watch the show and suddenly I hear something like, ‘Vonda, thank you for that song.” Most of my speaking has just been stage banter, but once I did have an actual line. It’s only happened three times, so you might have missed it. Post: I’ve never heard you speak on the show or have another other character call you by name. Fans sometimes come up to me and say, ‘I loved your first album.” I ask, ‘You have my first album?” And they say, ‘Yeah, that ‘Ally’ album.” It doesn’t frustrate me as much as it makes me laugh. Shepard: It surprises me, since I’ve done so many interviews about my life before ‘Ally.” Still, people are just discovering my music. Post: Most of the public knows you only from your work on ‘Ally McBeal.” Does that bother you? He’s very generous and open to ideas, but he makes the final decision. That’s why sometimes my originals work and sometimes they don’t. Whether it’s one of my original songs or a cover tune, he wants to be incredibly specific with his message. Shepard: David Kelley chooses all the music, as if he’s not busy enough in his life. Post: The songs you sing on the show usually come at poignant moments and tend to dovetail with the plot. In real life, the clubs aren’t quite as controlled – and my hair isn’t quite as in place as it is on ‘Ally McBeal.” The biggest similarity between me and my character is that we’ve both played clubs for 20 years. Shepard: I’ve never sung a lounge gig in my life, or performed ‘Feelings” or ‘Misty.” I have played lots of clubs since I was 14, but I always did my own music. Post: On ‘Ally McBeal” you play a barroom piano singer. She’ll play Long Island’s Westbury Music Fair tomorrow and appear here in the city at Irving Plaza on Monday. Shepard made waves last year with her fourth solo album, ‘The Songs of ‘Ally McBeal’ featuring Vonda Shepard,” and she is currently touring to support her just-released disc ‘By 7:30.”

What isn’t strange is her easy rapport with an audience and the depth of her original songs, such as ‘Don’t Cry, Ilene” and ‘Maryland.” She’s an oddball on a series that has thrived on bizarre occurrences. She rarely speaks on the show, yet she manages to move the plot with her music. This singer/songwriter plays, well, a singer/songwriter who performs in the bar that the characters frequent.

OFTEN called the voice of ‘Ally McBeal,” Vonda Shepard has one of the most unusual jobs on TV.

Ally mcbeal singer