Ben Folds is still shaking off all the hang-ups, sharing himself with audiences.

Ben Folds belongs to that very special category of musician whom, at the mention of his name, most people familiar with him will say, “Ben Folds? I love that guy.” How that came about, however, is still something he is trying to understand.

“I think having a relatively realistically positive attitude is probably helpful,” says Folds, who makes his Monterey debut on Saturday, Sept. 14. “You’ve got your personality. Your person. Your experience. Your technical ability. Your professionalism. All those things are kind of tugging at each other. The balance, I think, comes from character. You have empathy for the audience and for people around you. You’re not trying to pull some wool over their eyes.”

Folds’ music career began in the late 1980s. He catapulted to success when, as part of the piano-driven Ben Folds Five, he released a hit album (Whatever and Ever Amen), a hit song (“Brick”) and, perhaps most importantly, hit a nerve with a fresh take in the burgeoning alternative music scene.

“Your job [as a performer] is just to report on where you are and how you feel,” he explains. “At the end of it, whether it’s the grunge era or whatever, I think it’s always much better to have good fucking manners.”

Performing everywhere from the backrooms of comic cons to serving as artistic adviser for the National Symphony Orchestra, Folds has largely been able to sustain a three-decade career on his own terms.

“It’s always tougher to be a performer if you have a bunch of hang-ups,” he says. “If you just let them fall by the wayside, just take people on one at a time as if it were a short life – which it is – it’s good.”

Folds might also be regarded as an ambassador of the creative process. “It’s like it’s running right now,” he says, likening the management of his creative output to that of turning the valve of a spigot. “I’ve always tried to put myself in a position where I was forced to turn it on. I think that’s the way that music kind of holds hands with it all. It’s always there.”

Folds fosters that special kind of evening out from which audience members can expect to leave with the feeling of attending a master class with a really cool teacher. In other words, an evening without any hang-ups.

BEN FOLDS’ PAPER AIRPLANE REQUEST TOUR 8pm Saturday, Sept. 14. Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $61-$127. 649-1070, goldenstatetheatre.com