THE grandfather of British blues John Mayall is coming to the City Hall on Thursday, October 23 bringing with him his legendary band the Bluesbreakers and the Journal had a chance to catch up with him ahead of his performance.

Mayall formed the group back in 1963 and artists such as Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood have all appeared alongside him in what has been described as a “finishing school for blues-rock musicians”.

But who would he consider to be the best of them?

“I couldn’t say, there have just been so many good ones over the years,” he replied.

“But the band I am playing with at the moment is one of the best that I have put together.”

His former band mates read something like the who’s who of British pop but when it comes to choosing his band a lot of it comes more down to luck than judgement.

He added: “A lot of luck is involved but obviously I’ve got a good team of people around me who can spot talent.”

Now into his fifth decade of playing, the 80-year-old Mayall has no plans on retiring – or not at least while his popularity continues to be so big.

“For me nothing has changed from when I was playing in the 60s or 70s,” he said. “I find playing out on stage so invigorating, people are always saying to me when are you going to stop playing but at the moment I am just having so much fun with my music.

“Plus all of my shows are continuing to sell out so I have no reason to stop playing.”

In a career spanning over half a century he has released 60 albums and contributed to the blues-rock scene more than any other musician in history and continues to actively record, recently having released his first new studio album in five years, entitled A Special Life.

He reformed Bluebreakers in 2009 to tour and Mayall has a vast back-catalogue of work that he plans on using for the shows.

“I don’t have one hit really just a wide variety of music that I can play. It is great for the audience though because no one show is the same.”

John Mayall will be supported on the night by special guests King King, who have twice won Best Blues Band Award at the British Blues Awards.

The Glasgow four piece are led by Alan Nimmo and have critical acclaim for their first two albums.

Tickets for the concert start at £25.50 and can be purchased on 01722 434434 or at cityhallsalisbury.co.uk