RETURNING to Colne for The Great British R&B Festival will be a trip down memory lane for Taste drummer John Wilson.

“We’ve been to Colne before so this will be a welcome trip for us,” he said.

“The music is always good and the people are great. For me the best thing is that it’s a chance to meet all the musicians. Last time there were people I hadn’t seen for 20 years or more.

“I live in Northern Ireland now but I lived in England for a while and I saw a lot of people I used to know. It was a cracker just to catch up with everyone. I was thinking ‘Are you the same person? You look so much older’ and they were all thinking the same about me!”

Formed in the 1960s in Northern Ireland, Taste are most noted for the fact that legendary guitarist Rory Gallagher was an original member.

Although Rory died in 1995, the band — now with new frontman Sam Davidson —keep his memory alive with the music they play.

“When we go out and work as Taste we’re playing Rory’s music,” said John.

“A lot of bands pay tribute to Rory Gallagher, but they prefer to play the more recent stuff. We play the early material, but we play it with today’s skills — we’re better musicians now. The fans dig it.”

Although the band have been out of the public eye for a while, they have continued to perform and write as Taste.

They re-surfaced in England for the first time in many years in January 2006 and then at Colne that year, where many of those who witnessed their set were completely floored by the experience. In April this year they appeared at the Rory Gallagher benefit concert in Belfast.

The band are known for rejecting image and playing raw blues without restraint.

“We’re a trio which means we can improvise and play off the cuff, which is a lot more difficult when there’s more musicians.

“Image isn’t important — we’re working musicians. I play a lot of other types of music, session and jazz. For me there’s a difference between being a musical entertainer, which is playing an instrument in a band, and being a working musician. I play all different types of music and it doesn’t matter which it is — I play them all the same way, to the best of my ability.”

* Taste will play the International Stage at The Great British R&B Festival, Colne, on Sunday, August 24, 7.30pm. For tickets call 01282 661234