A STOCKTON Heath duo will be sharing a stage with an award-winning performer for the first festival of its kind.

The Back To Front Band will be the main support for Rebecca Downes at the inaugural Knutsford Music Festival on Friday.

Rebecca took the British Blues Awards by storm last year when she was named best female vocalist and 2016’s emerging artist. She was also named runner up in the best blues song category for her song, Believe.

We’re looking forward to doing Knutsford Music Festival because Rebecca Downes puts on a great show with her band.

Phil Wright, who writes The Back To Front Band’s songs and plays piano and various string instruments on stage, said: “We’re looking forward to doing Knutsford Music Festival because Rebecca Downes puts on a great show with her band.

“We have done festivals up and down the country but we particularly like to support live music in our area. There’s loads going on in Knutsford that weekend. It’s fabulous.”

Phil formed The Back To Front Band with his long time musical collaborator Adrian Hough, who plays slide guitar, around two years ago.

The former Broomfields High School pupil added: “We’ve been performing together in different formats over the years and about two years we formed this band and wrote an album.

“We just play stripped down blues with different things thrown in like gospel music.

“Blues music started in the gospel days and progressed from there.”

Phil was exposed to music from a young age as his dad Ray played the organ between the 1940s and 60s at The Ritz in Warrington.

The art deco cinema famously went on to become the Mr Smith’s nightclub.

The 57-year-old said: “My dad was the organist at The Ritz and I used to watch him when I was a kid. His organ used to rise up from a pit for the kids’ screenings called the ABC Minors.

“That had a big influence on me. When he wasn’t on the organ my dad was a big band man and I used to play drums for him when I was in my teens.

“I carried on when I left school. I was originally a drummer and played with Last Orders who were a prominent band at the time.

“I also worked with Steve Gibbons and even Screaming Lord Sutch from the Monster Raving Looney Party would you believe. That was chaotic.”

Phil, whose singing style has been compared to Van Morrison and Tom Waits, added: “The first time I stopped in my tracks was when I first heard the Rolling Stones when they were doing the early blues stuff.

“With some of their big riffs they were copying the American blues artists and it was fabulous. That’s what hooked me.

“I was also inspired by people like Bob Dylan and thought that’s what I want to do.

“It’s been a great journey. Sadly a lot of the great artists are going away now. We’ve lost Gregg Allman from the Allman brothers.

“I’m getting a bit older now but I appreciate newer songwriters like Paolo Nutini and I was really impressed by Viola Beach.

“What happened to them was an awful tragedy. They were songwriters. They were getting back to how it should be rather than this shallow, commercialised stuff you get on TV.”

  • The Back To Front Band perform at Brook Street Club on Friday. Visit facebook.com/knutsfordmusicfestival