DUMPY recalls the first time he got his Rusty Nuts.

I'd been in a few blues bands, playing pub boogie blues, but wanted to branch out into something a bit more heavy as a three-piece.

We were in a pub in Dorking and someone just suggested it, and we kept it. I thought it brought out the light-hearted side of things. Part of me is a comedian and we've got a biker band tradition with a lot of humour."

There's no disputing that - with song tiles like Cows*** Under My Wheels a firm favourite for this good-natured hell-raiser who has been playing for nearly 20 years.

In fact, Dumpy's love of bikes has led him to incorporate the machines into his live shows, blending deafening revs with heavy metal chords.

He's also prone to a spin on his 1960s Triumph from his home in Burton-upon-Trent over the Peak District and, in years gone by, a hair-raising tour of the Isle Of Man's TT circuit before taking to the stage.

Despite appearances at the Reading Festival, stadiums such as Birmingham's NEC and umpteen tours around the country, Dumpy reserves a special affection for Worcester.

He's played at the Marr's Bar already this year - "a great place, great atmosphere" - and enjoyed the venue so much he's returning next week to shoot a live video.

It's all part of the run-up to the band's 20th anniversary next year, when a new celebratory album is planned for release.

Dumpy says the highlight of his live performances remains a gig in 1987 at Pitchcroft racecourse alongside the Steve Gibbons band and Hawkwind, with whom the band have been firm friends for years.

For me, live shows have always been about involving the audience. We try and get quite a bit of a sing-a-long - it's a bit slapstick.

You could say it's in the mould of Bad Manners and Madness, but we are a rock-blues band, so it's based around that."

Dumpy's Rusty Nuts play the Marr's Bar, Pierpoint Street, Worcester, on Saturday, November 25. Tickets cost £5.