KEVIN Rowland has performed at some major venues in his career but he admits that his appearance at the Confessional Festival in Blackburn in Saturday will be something different.

The day-long celebration, now in its eighth year, is being held in the former Holy Trinity Church and will see the Dexys’ frontman performing his DJ show to round-off the night following performances by the likes of Pins, Trampolene and the Ninth Wave.

“I’ve always been a bit of a preacher,” laughed Kevin, “but I’ve never done a DJ show in a church before. It sounds like it’s going to be fun.”

With Dexys - formerly Dexys Midnight Runners - Kevin has had a string of hit singles and albums going back to the Eighties. The band released three classic albums between 1980 and 1985 before releasing One Day I’m Going to Soar after an absence of 32 years and a follow-up, Let the Record Show two years ago.

Kevin has also released two solo albums but is currently concentrating on his DJ shows.

“I call it a show because I’m not just playing records and it’s not just some kind of nostalgia trip,” he said.”It’s an interesting thing in its own right.

“I try not to be too obscure. I like to get people dancing. If all the music you play is stuff they have never heard before it’s quite a hard thing to get them to groove.

“Some of them might not have heard some of the songs before, probably because they are too young, but I do play contemporary things as well. I just try to mix it up and play what feels right.

“I’m guessing that the audience at Confessional will know their music and will be open to things. That’s good, they’ll be up for it.”

One thing that makes Kevin’s DJ shows unique are the moments when he sings over some of the tracks.

“Obviously my vocals help make it a show,” he said. “It’s what separates me from other DJs. There are about five full vocal performances with the records during a show, I don’t sing along to everything.”

Kevin is passionate about the art of DJ-ing and getting a room to groove along to the tracks being played.

“You are always learning when you’re doing this,” he said. “I do have a rough set list but I would play anything if I thought it would fit and would work right. I think it’s all about the order you play the songs in. A particular song can sound quite good after another song but them when it follows a different song it can lift the roof off - it’s understanding that. You have to take risks and you never know what an audience will be up for.

“I do look forward to these nights and generally they go well. I’m blessed with it. I struggle with the late nights a bit, these days and I tend not to stay out late by choice. But at the same time you’ve got to live and so you may be tired for a day or two – big deal. At least you’ve had a good time and that replenishes the old spirit I feel.

“I love to see people grooving. It’s a real joy to see them having a good time. It’s a very simple thing but it’s a great thing.”

For the moment, Kevin is concentrating on his DJ shows.

“It terms of making new music I’m taking a little pause,” he said. “There’s some talk of some reissues next year but there’s nothing I’m really focussing on.

“We worked really hard between 2010 and 2015 and we did a couple of albums which I’m really happy with and I was really happy with the shows. So now it’s a little pause before the next thing.”

Confessional, Holy Trinity Church. Blackburn, Saturday, September 8. Doors open at 2pm with young performers from the MMT Student Showcase getting things underway at 2.30pm.

The line-up includes Kevin Rowland DJ Show, Pins, The Ninth Wave, Trampolene, Ist Ist, Fruit Tones, Mold, The Racket, Anhedonia and Confessional DJs.

The theme for this year’s Confessional is Out of This World and the venue has been specially decorated for the occasion

A limited number of tickets are available from www.fatsoma.com and a handful of tickets will be available on the door on the day on a first-come-first served basis.