Chris Jagger’s return

They began with Chris Jagger on the very first night; Chris now returns for another night of music on Wednesday, March 14 with his acoustic roots trio.

“We all live up in Somerset,” says Chris, brother to Rolling Stone Mick. “The band that I have got, Acha, is much louder and is for bigger venues, particularly where people are dancing. In smaller places, I think it’s better to play more quietly. It allows people to communicate with their friends and not be so pinned.”

Hence it’s the trio that is coming: “The trio is more country. It evolves. I made this record called The Ridge which is a little bit more acoustic and country, and we play some tunes from that. There is a lot of cross-over stuff that we do with the drummer, but I tend not to do all the big blues numbers because you need a drummer for that backbeat. With a double bass (in the trio), it is more for the mid tones.

“We play some Cajun stuff, but it is more country hillbilly-orientated. The band is more bluesy, zydeco now. That’s the distinction I have made.”

Chris owes his interest in Cajun to big brother Mick who brought some Clifton Chenier back with him from America one time: “I just thought that I really liked it. I didn’t really think a lot more about it, but I did have a little bit of accordion on a record I made in the early 70s. Little did I think that it would become such an integral part of my music now.

“When I made a record in 93, I really wanted to get some of this stuff on there. My take on it is that I wanted to write some of my own songs using those time signatures. I started writing a few songs and it developed from there.”

Meanwhile, Acha the band continues apace, with a new album due out now.

“I thought coming up for last April that we had better do a record with the band. We drove out to France and went to my brother’s house (in the Loire) and recorded there. I thought that this would appeal to the band and get their mouths watering, and it did. He wasn’t there. And that’s what we did. We had a beautiful sunny week out there. We recorded a bunch of tunes. We mostly cut the stuff live.”

Start time: 8.30pm. Tickets £12.50 from 01243 774641 or direct from The Chichester Inn in West Street, Chichester.