A GUITARIST from Kidderminster is flying in from New Zealand to play with his band for the first time in 20 years.

Dead Ringer and The Clones guitarist Kelvin Terry will join his band at Kidderminster Rocks at the town hall tonight.

The charity event will pay tribute to John Combes, a music promoter who brought the likes of U2 and UB40 to Kidderminster and is the author of Get Your Kicks on the A456.

Neville Farmer, one of the singers in the band, said they had been very busy preparing for the performance and the return of their guitarist after a break of two decades.

“Our guitarist Kelvin Terry is flying in from New Zealand to play with the band for the first time in 20 years so we are frantically rehearsing for the concert,” added Mr Farmer. “It should be brilliant.”

Mr Terry moved to New Zealand in August 1999 when he was offered a job with Air New Zealand. He used to work at Birmingham Airport.

He said: “I was asked by Neville in April to come back and play Kidderminster Rocks and because of John Combes I said I would be interested if I could make it. Here I am.”

The band is made up of Neville and Shaun ‘liquid lil’ Lillis (vocals), John Bridger and Kelvin (guitar), Malcolm Green (bass) and Tate Taylor (drums).

Mr Farmer said: “The whole evening will be a lot of fun and it will be really nice to say thank you to John (Combes).

“When I was 16, I was the sound engineer at an old Irish pub in the town and he used to organise the gigs. I got in a band and we were able to play there as well.

“That is John – he just helped everybody out like that.”

The singer also praised the area’s musical legacy.

“It doesn’t get celebrated enough,” he said. “Creating music is one of the things British people do best and Wyre Forest has contributed to that over the years.“ This is a good chance to do that and I wish we did more of this kind of thing.”

Dead Ringer and The Clones will play their own material, much of it for the first time since the 1970s, including Orange Grove, Fizz, Bang, Wallop and Smokey De Soto.

The songs cover scenarios such as a walk home through Kidderminster late at night and a particularly bleak outlook on marriage. There will also be covers from bands such as Tom Petty and Talking Heads.

Kidderminster Rocks will be the first time the band has reunited since 2002 when they played at King Charles I School.