Dave Sharp formerly of rock group The Alarm has come back to his Manchester roots to launch a new group and save British music from losing its soul commercialism. He spoke to Rachel Broady about leaving behind the Grand Ole Opry for the Roadhouse.

As a lad Dave Sharp wanted to fulfil the dream of every young boy who ever picked up a guitar and be a rock star.

He did, notably, with The Alarm , and the release of 68 Guns and The Spirit of '76, hits in the US and the UK.

Then, after the band's final tour in 1991 Sharp headed for America to complete his personal dream - pursuing the American folk legend and playing alongside the country's greats - and he did. Sharp toured and recorded with Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash as well as George Porter (Neville Brothers) and Chris Solberg (Santana).

Now he's gone full circle and is back home, bumping into Mark E Smith in the chippy when buying the fish and chip suppers he missed when overseas, and launching his new band called the Soul Company

I'm back where I started,’‘ he said. ‘‘I played guitar here before I left school and I'm glad to be back. Manchester has been the bedrock of the finest music to ever come from Britain. Ever.

‘‘When I was away I missed the feeling of friendship, the openness, the optimism and when I found a similar spirit in New Orleans, I decided to make it my home for a while. If there's a city that's close to Manchester in spirit, it's New Orleans.

But this isn't Sharp being nostalgic, despite having formed a new band following a conversation about playing a gig at Belle Vue years ago, he is looking to the future - hoping that the music industry will find its soul and wave goodbye to commercial packaged rock and pop. And his eyes are on both the UK and US charts.
‘‘I saw fewer and fewer UK rock bands able to make a lasting impact on the US audiences,’‘ he said. ‘‘There has got to be a serious British rock band capable of making a lasting impression on the United States.’‘

Maybe the Soul Company are that band, boasting an enviable line-up of well-known musicians, as Brit bass player Keith Ashcroft, 1Occ drummer Paul Burgess and Dr Feelgood guitarist Moe Witham join Sharp.

He said ‘‘I bumped into Keith Ashcroft and we got talking about Belle Vue and I said I wanted to put a rock band together and he said he was in. He got in touch with Paul Burgess and then came Moe and when we got together, after we had all been keeping the spirit alive for so long, it was tremendous. But we're not doing a nostalgia trip, this has to be current, has to be new.

‘‘I would like to see the UK music scene get its feet back on the ground and to have the balls and spirit to get itself away from the corporate nonsense and stop chasing million dollar contracts and play music that touches my soul. To be a great musician you have to believe in people. I grew up in an age of music where people's hearts and minds mattered.
‘‘There is a massive hunger for the fulfillment of the heart and soul because of the way that everything is speeding up under the corporate chain gang that hunger is not being fed. I feel dehumanised by the whole process. I think the time has never been better, everything is there for something to happen if everybody would just take a step back and look at what's going on before the music scene collapses in on itself.’‘

And the fight back starts in Manchester, where many successful bands began their first steps towards success. ‘‘Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills and Nash) said to me once `if it wasn't for Manchester, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now', and I feel the same,’‘ Dave said. ‘‘Who would've thought that a lad from Manchester would play on stage at he Grand Ole Opry?’‘

The Soul Company appear at the Roadhouse tomorrow (Saturday) and take to the stage at midnight. For more information go to www.soulco.org