by Andy Gray

Venues in Sittingbourne and Sheppey are being offered a free night of “Rick and Roll”.

Former Pop Idol star Rik Waller and his dad Kris want to create a must-visit disco experience and help boost trade at a struggling pub or club.

The father-and-son team from Leigh Road run Starsearch, which hosts themed nights catering for all music styles and tastes from reggae to rock.

Kris, 63, explained why he’s desperate to take the non-profit show on the road.

He said: “I was talking to a lad the other night who likes ska music and he told me he had to go as far as Folkestone to find an event which catered for him.

“Our aim is to create a night which caters for different genres, so one week it’s all rock steady and the next it’s maybe something like Motown.

“But it’ll mean people know there’s somewhere they can go and hear their own kind of music rather than suffer things they don’t like in the hope of hearing one or two of their favourite tunes.

“How often we do it depends on the venue, it could be once a week, it could be seven nights a week.

“But we’re quite happy to do it for a free trial period and we’ll know fairly quickly if it’s going to work. I’m confident it will.”

Kris said his son, who recently announced his retirement from singing, is the musical brains behind the mission while he is the driving force.

“I have to be, Rik can’t drive,” Kris said.

He added: “Rik is the maestro, what he doesn’t know about music isn’t worth knowing about.”

Waller senior claimed his is a win-win solution to the current crisis facing drinking venues. And if it doesn’t work out?

“There might not be a call for it, but you never know until you try,” Kris said.

“As far as the venue is concerned, they won’t have lost anything.

“But I’m quite bullish and quietly confident...and I don’t do anything quietly.”

Anyone interested in hiring Starsearch should call Kris on 07438 635421.