When a 15-year-old Gary Grainger saw The Who perform on Eel Pie Island in 1967, little did he think that four decades later he would be performing alongside Pete Townshend at the Royal Albert Hall. Nor that he would headlining The Eel Pie one day, too.

"Seeing The Who in such a legendary venue was fabulous," recalls Grainger, who brings his Bluesclub band to Eel Pie at The Patch next Wednesday.

"An aunt of mine lived in Twickenham so I got to hear about all the local R&B bands - The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things - from my cousins. But The Who were something else.

"At the time Pete lived just across from Eel Pie and at the end of the gig, he smashed up all his guitars and walked straight out with the feedback still ringing in our ears. Fantastic memories!"

Inspired by The Who gig, Grainger picked up his own guitar and by the age of 21, he had a weekly residency with his band Strider at The Marquee Club on Wardour Street.

Strider also opened for The Faces from time to time and when Rod Stewart left to set up his own band, he took Grainger with him.

The next 10 years were spent living the high life, both in LA and on two world tours. "Mad days," says Grainger now, though he keeps the details under his belt.

What he will talk about are the songs. Grainger co-wrote some of Stewart's biggest hits, including Do you think I'm Sexy, Hot Legs, I Was Only Joking and Passion. Not that he was credited fully on all of them, presumably thanks to Rod Stewart being, well, Rod Stewart.

"You mean tight?" says Grainger, before checking himself. "I got pushed out of a few, but it wasn't bad. I can only say I was lucky. We both liked folk music and because he and I came from similar backgrounds and I was such a fan of The Faces, I was able to chuck in some ideas he could relate to."

The same rule applied to his later associations with The Roger Dalty Band and The Jones Gang, run by Kenny Jones of the Small Faces and The Who.

But there's only so much second fiddle one man can play. Nowadays, Grainger is clearly enjoying the spotlight with Bluesclub, even if he shares it with harp extraordinnaire Peter Hope-Evans.

"It's going to be authentic but savage blues," he promises of the Eel Pie gig. "We tend to pick the more obscure originals and adapt them to our own style. There's nothing we like better than throwing ideas around"

And in a coup, Grainger and Hope-Evans will be joined on Wednesday by keyboard player Guy Fletcher and drummer Danny Cummins, both longstanding members of Mark Knopfler's Dire Straits.

Just how those Sultans of Swing will match up to the Blues Brothers can only be guessed at. But it sounds too good to miss.

Bluesclub: The Gary Grainger/Peter Hope-Evans Band, The Eel Pie Club. The Patch, 67 London Road, Twickenham, Wednesday, February 20, 8.30pm, £10/£8 members, call 020 8973 3605 or visit eelpieclub.com.