HE may have been making music for six decades but Paul Jones’ enthusiasm for the blues is as infectious as ever.

Through his weekly radio show on Radio Two from which he stepped down earlier this year to his live shows with The Blues Band, his passion has remained undimmed.

On Saturday he will be bringing The Blues Band to Preston Guild Hall.

“If you cease to enjoy it, you should cease to do it,” he said, “It’s as simple as that.”

The Blues Band show no signs of ceasing to do anything. Next year marks their 40th year together and this summer they released The Rooster Crowed, the 20th album of their career.

A virtual who’s who of great musicians including Dave Kelly, Gary Fletcher and Tom McGuinness, Paul said that even after being together so long, the various members of the band still have the capacity to surprise one another.

“We do find ourselves saying ‘wow’ or ‘yeah’ at times,” said Paul. “Sometimes either directly on stage at the moment or back in the dressing room people will say ‘my goodness you played a great solo there’ so we do surprise each other.

“Nobody ever says ‘I know’ but there are times when you do know you have played something really good and that’s a lovely moment of reward.

“One of the good things about the kind of music we play is that improvisation is an important element so nothing is ever the same twice. When music is exactly the same it’s got to be boring eventually particularly for the players. Fortunately we’ve never had that experience!”

The Rooster Crowed, the band’s first album in eight years, features a collection of new songs written by various members of the band.

“There weren’t any collaborations within the band,” said Paul. “All the songs were individual creations brought to the sessions and sort of auditioned really.

“It was quite good to have people coming in with what they had written. Although it was easier for Dave, Tom and Gary as they play guitars so they can sing to their own accompaniment. I could play the riff of the piece on my harmonica but then I’d have to get the guys to envisage accompanying it.”

Even though, as lead vocalist, he may have been hampered when it came to showcasing his songs two numbers that Paul wrote - Peace Don’t Worry and Even Better - made it on to the album.

“To be honest they were primarily written by my wife Fiona,” he said. “But I was pretty confident about both the songs I brought to the guys making it to the album.

“Sometimes when you decide to do an album, you have got songs you been doing live but haven’t recorded. This album is probably something like 50:50 between songs we had played by not recorded and absolutely brand new songs. I think that’s a really nice mix.”

The Blues Band will be touring until the end of the year. “It hardly stops to be honest,” said Paul, “but we enjoy it that way.”

Then 2019 will see the band’s 40th anniversary looming in April.

“Goodness, 40 years,” laughed Paul. “At the moment I don’t think we have anything planned but I think that perhaps the 40th anniversary is deserving of some recognition, so I suspect we might do something odd for it.”

The Blues Band, Preston Guild Hall, Saturday, September 15. Details from 01772 804444 or www.prestonguildhall.co.uk