THE former front man of The Bogus Brothers will bring to an end 21 years in retirement by returning to the stage on Wednesday at The Crescent Community Venue in York.

Andy Atkinson left the Bogus line-up in late 1995 after ten years with the York band, who, by then, were established as an exhilarating live act, touring throughout Britain, Ireland and mainland Europe to promote a series of albums.

Since then, Andy has retained his involvement with live music through his compering work, introducing big-name acts at such festivals as Galtres, Apollo, Moonbeams, Cornucopia, Underneath The Stars and Shepley, as well as running the Selby FunDay Concert annually for Selby Town Council. He also commentates on York City Knights' Rugby League games for BBC Radio York and is a boxing master of ceremonies too.

Against this backdrop, various attempts had been made to tease Andy out of his "retirement", but finally the opportunity to put together a band featuring former colleagues and well-known York musicians has seen the formation of Acko Pulco and The Cliff Divers.

"The name is a play on words with a nod in the direction of our chosen musical genre: Bordertown Tex Mex, encompassing the music of the likes of The Mavericks, Los Lobos, The Texas Tornadoes, Steve Earle and even The King, Elvis," he says.

Joining vocalist Andy in the line-up are The Cliff Divers musicians: former Bogus Brother bassist Tim Bruce; one-time Bogus soundman Robin Bowes on guitar; Hairul Hasnan on drums; former Goosehorns and Sad Café keyboard player Simon Waggott; Daniel Bowater, from the Arts Barge project, on accordion and harmonica; ex-Littlemores' accordion and trumpet player Ben Crosthwaite; Mark Ellerker on harmonica and Andy’s daughter, Jess, on backing vocals.

"We'll be putting the emphasis on 'a right good night out' and we'll also feature our own on-stage Cantina bar run by ex Bogus tour manager Paul Barker," says Andy.

"We have some festival work lined up during the coming year but first we make our public debut at The Crescent Community Venue on Wednesday with a tag line of 'A Difficult Night If You Cant Dance’ and the promise of a special guest and song or two."

Tickets cost £5 from The Crescent, Make Your Mark in Goodramgate, York, or Wallworks Photography in Selby or from band members. Doors will open at 8pm.