HE HAS rocked all over the world with Status Quo and built a huge following in Germany, but one Oswestry musician is looking forward to a special gig – his home town.

Wayne Morris will be at The Townhouse, in Willow Street, on Friday, July 22 after a cheeky request from old fans in the town asking when he is coming for a homecoming gig.

The son of former Oswestry Town manager and footballer Freddie Morris, Wayne left to chase fame and fortune in the late 1980s, setting up a career that led to a friendship with Quo frontman and music legend Rick Parfitt.

And he said is expecting to see plenty of old faces at the gig on Friday.

"I'm not nervous about it but I don't know how I'm feeling either," he said.

"I'm a professional, I know what I'm doing and I've been playing for a long time – I want to be Bruce Springsteen not Bob Monkhouse.

"I'm a real rock-n-roller and to be rick's best friend, you've got to be.

"I've played on many hits of their's too on the guitar, and since Rick's death a few years back, a whole new world has opened up for me on these liners.

"And now coming to back to Oswestry, it's a thrill for me and I want everyone to think 'wow, he can still do it'.

"I started in Oswestry with a band called the Tea Set and two of those guys are going to be there.

"I left Oswestry in the late 80s to live in Germany and have built myself up a career here and it's been really great.

"I did a tour with Status Quo to promote my album and I met up with Rick, and I was doing something with the guitars.

"I went over to meet him and he said it was the most beautiful thing he'd heard and asked me to teach him.

"He came to the bus with his guitar – it was technical as he was a straight ahead rock-n-roller, the powerhouse behind Status Quo on another level.

"We were like brothers for years, and we wrote loads of songs for Status Quo."

Wayne added the gig is a good break from his current work, as the top act on a cruise line, and admitted that he is looking forward to coming home.

He said: "My dad was the town football manager and he played for Liverpool too from 1958-60, and was really cool.

"He was a cool fella my dad.

"There is a cruise company call AIDA with 16 big ships and I am their number one 'guest concert' – they fly me all over the world to these ships for two weeks.

"But when someone said when are you going to play Oswestry, I thought yes and I'm not doing it for the money.

"I'm really overwhelmed with the interest it's created on social media, lots of people saying they're coming.

"I thought, I've never been to the Townhouse or the garden in the back, I hope they have enough seats!"