Praised in September’s Moonshine mag & recommended by a mate into old style blues, Elms Street’s Horse & Groom gave Derby pubgoers the chance to see Stafford based .44 Pistol do their thing again. And sure enough, word had spread as the pub was packed with punters straining for a view.

My first impressions were that with no bass, lead guitarist Ash Jones was limited to providing a rhythm platform for Pete Wearn’s flirtations on harmonica. But .44P are not a rock band in the modern sense, their style comes from an earlier age. This requires a quick reassessment.

Imagine it’s the early 1950’s. There’s a gruff blues singer who also plays harmonica and slide resonator guitar. Then add a powerful drummer, another guitarist with one of those new Les Paul guitars and that new fangled electrical amplification. This would have been heavy stuff, five years before Rock n Roll broke! Have you heard about that Muddy Waters geezer?