HE’S probably best known for being part of folk rock legends Fairport Convention but bassist Dave Pegg has a love for the music of Bob Dylan.

And with fellow Dylan devotees he’s part of a veritable supergroup heading to Clitheroe Grand next weekend to celebrate the great man’s music.

Alongside Dave in the Dylan Project are his Fairport bandmate, drummer Gerry Conway, guitarist P J Wright, Phil Bond on keyboards and Steve Gibbons on guitar and vocals.

Dave is quick to dispel any ideas that the Dylan Project is some kind of cheesy tribute act.

“We have our own take on the music.” he said. “We have been doing it for the last 12 or 13 years and we don’t try to sound identical to the way Bob has done his stuff.

“We are all of an age so we can put our own bits and pieces to it. And Steve is a fantastic singer and he will improvise around the words.”

For the date in Clitheroe, they will be playing one of Bob Dylan’s best known albums Blonde on Blonde in its entirety.

“The arrangements for Blonde on Blonde are pretty close to original recording, but they are just played a lot better,” laughed Dave.

“The way Bob used to record, he was never one for correcting mistakes in the studio, There are some great players on that album but when I listen to it, I can hear some wrong bass notes for example which haven’t been corrected.

“I find that a bit strange as it would have been easy to do but that has been Bob’s way of working throughout his career - what goes down is it.”

For a bunch of musicians with a shared passion for Dylan, the chance to play the whole of Blonde on Blonde was one they jumped at.

“The songs themselves are fantastic,” he said. “I love Visions of Johanna which is perhaps my favourite along with Sad Eyed Lady.

“We have been playing half of the songs from the album from time to time at various gigs, but there are some we haven’t had a go at.

“It’s very satisfying doing the whole album and the audiences been really rapturous when we get through to the end. Whether that’s just relief or not I don’t know.

“Doing an album from start to finish has been a great discipline for the Dylan Project. Normally we don’t even have a setlist!

“Very often Steve will just start a song and it may not necessarily be one we have played together before but you can’t get away with that doing this. You have to do it in right order. It’s been nice to know what’s coming next.”

Given Bob Dylan’s prodigious output - he has released over 35 albums - deciding what to play could cause problems.

“We have a list of probably 60 numbers or so that we’ve done,” said Dave. “By incorporating Blonde on Blonde that has alleviated a few group fights over what we should do next.

“We will start the night by playing the album because a lot of the songs are mid tempo or slower numbers which allows us then to liven things up a bit for the end of the evening.”

The Dylan Project recently released a live album Live at the Convent which is available from their website dylanproject.co.uk as well as at their gigs.

The Dylan Project, Clitheroe Grand, Sunday, December 11. Details from 01200 421599