ONE of the Godfathers of Punk, New York Dolls’ guitarist Sylvain Sylvain will be in Blackburn next week to talk about his remarkable life.

Pete Eastwood, organiser of the Night of the Museum event, has pulled off a major coup by getting the New York musician to fly in for his event next Friday.

It comes a day after Sylvain publishes his long awaited autobiography, No Bones in Ice Cream.

“I still can’t quite believe it myself,” said Pete, who is behind both Night at the Museum at Blackburn Museum and the Confessional Festival which will be held at the former Holy Trinity Church in Blackburn in September.

“A fan of Jade Bird who headlined Night at the Museum earlier this year is a lifelong friend of Sylvain Sylvain and she mentioned what a great event it was,” he said. “We got in touch and he agreed to come over. He’ll be talking about his life, showing some photos from his personal archive and he’s bringing his guitar with him too.”

With the New York Dolls, Sylvain and lead singer David Johansen were part of a scene in the early Seventies which included Iggy Pop and the Stooges and the Velvet Underground and the band’s influence continues today.

Support on the night will come from members of Cabbage who will be playing an acoustic set.

“We had them at Confessional last year and they were fabulous,” said Pete. “This won’t be a full band show but it will be something special.”

For the Confessional events this year on Saturday, September 8, Pete has lined up another stellar line-up headlined by all-girl band PINS and with Dexys frontman Kevin Rowland playing a DJ set.

“I always like to showcase emerging talent and I’m delighted that we have also got Trampolene an up-and-coming Welsh band and The Ninth Wave who were the best band I saw at Kendal Calling last year,” said Pete.

“The theme this time round is Out of this World and there will be rockets and robots and plenty of surprises,” said Pete.

“I devote around seven months of the year to Confessional and each year I just want to make it better than the last. With the line-up I have been able to put together for September it is going to be pretty special.”

A limited number of tickets remains for Night at the Museum and tickets are also still available for the Confessional Festival.

For more details, contact Pete at pete@townbandit.com or on 07866 545964