YORK guitarist Henry Bird follows up his October appearance at York Barbican in The Meat Loaf Story by appearing in another Steve Steinman show in his home city on January 25.

Henry will join The X Factor’s 2013 winner and musical actress Sam Bailey in Steinman’s Vampires Rock at the Grand Opera House that night at 7.30pm.

“That Barbican show was great fun,” says Henry. “Now I’ll be doing three of Steve’s shows this year, starting with 43 Vampires Rock performances until March. Next we’ll be doing Anything For Love, a new one in May and June, and we’re really lucky we’ll have Lorraine Crosby with us on tour from Meat Loaf’s original Bat Out Of Hell II album. After that, we return to The Meat Loaf Story again.”

Now in his mid-30s and married to his long-term girlfriend Vicky since 2016, Henry has put his own band The Pauper Kings on the back burner, while his fellow group members, Bird’s brothers Arthur and Jack, have family commitments with young children. “So it’s just me going around the world for the moment,” he says.

It was Henry’s earlier group, the glam hard rock band Kid Ego, that had brought his guitar prowess to the attention of Newark producer and performer Steve Steinman. “It’s ten years ago that I first did a show with Steve before me and my brothers went off to record in Nashville in 2011,” he recalls.

Henry and Steve have forged a fruitful friendship down the years. “We have a lot of laughs, first and foremost, but he’s also very professional, so you always know where you are with him.

“Having gone off to do original music for a while with The Pauper Kings, it’s good to know where I stand doing Steve’s shows for the year ahead and I can get my game head on to play the best I can.

“Just being in a big rock show is good fun – and I love playing the old theatres like Buxton Opera House, Blackpool Grand Theatre and the Grand Opera House in York.”

Praising Steinman for his tireless drive, Henry says: “Steve is a grafter, a workaholic, and I think a lot of people don’t realise how he’s constantly working in his office in Newark, having worked his way up from the doing shows in working men’s clubs.”

Steve’s boundless enthusiasm transmits to his rock shows and in turn to the audiences. “They’re lovely fans who come to the shows, and that’s what it’’s all about,” says Henry. “We couldn’t do them without the crowds, and it’s nice that people want to see us make fools of ourselves dressed as vampires playing rock songs.”

Vampires Rock presents a tongue-in-cheek story, wherein guitar gods and sexy vampettes take a ride through Eighties’ classic rock anthems by Queen, AC/DC, Journey, Guns N’Roses, Van Halen, Joan Jett, Alice Cooper et al. “It’s basically about having a good time – and I love playing my home town, where you get a lot of family and friends coming to the show, and you can have a couple of ales at Plonkers afterwards and be in bed by midnight!” says Henry. Tickets are on sale on 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york.