TWENTY years ago, almost to the day, a bunch of East Lancashire musicians performed on stage together at the Buchanan Club in Ramsbottom for the first time.

An audience of 75 witnessed the birth of a band which has become one of the area’s most popular soul outfits.

And now Man Made Sole are to celebrate their 20th anniversary with a special show at Burnley Mechanics on Saturday.

“I think the band has survived so long because an audience can see that we all enjoy the music so much,” said guitarist Mark Nicholson. “It’s the kind of music we love and that’s reflected in our live shows.”

Mark is a relative newcomer to the band, having played with them for four years. But the 12-strong line-up still boasts three original members — band leader Alan Wilson on trumpet, bassist Mike WIlliamson and one of the three singers, Debs Wilson.

“I think the band was originally inspired by the film The Commitments,” said Mark, “and things have just developed from there.

“We all hold down jobs and have families so it does restrict the amount of work we do but I think we all feel we have got the balance about right.

“We wanted to do something to mark the 20th anniversary and the Mechanics has always been a special venue for us attracting a great crowd.”

For Saturday night’s show, the band have prepared a setlist of 36 songs spanning the decades from Sixties’ soul to modern classics including Cee Lo Green.

“We have worked on a full brass version of Duffy’s Mercy which is really powerful,” said Mark.

“We will make sure we have a dancefloor art the front of the stage because a lot of people like to get up and dance to our stuff.

“It is pretty infectious really.”

Even after all these years the band still gets together to rehearse once a week in Cowpe, near Waterfoot.

“We’ve members living all over East Lancashire, with some in Rochdale and Bolton, so it’s sort of central for everyone,” said Mark.

“I think we will always be a covers band simply because it would be so difficult to rehearse our own material as we only have 90 minutes a week due to other commitments.

“But this is the music which brought us all together in the first place and we wouldn’t do anything else.

“We’d just like as many people as possible to celebrate our special anniversary at the Mechanics on Saturday.”

  • Man Made Soul, Burnley Mechanics, Saturday. Details from 01282 664400.