Are you ready to ramble? Thousands of music fans will be rocking out with stars from across the ages providing the soundtrack to the weekend for the Ramblin' Man Fair.

Now in its fourth year, the two-day festival brings some of the biggest names in rock through the ages to the park for a feast of heavy metal, rock, and folk.

After a successful three-day festival last year, organisers Spirit of Rock have moved event to the last weekend in June and taken it back to two full days.

This year's line-up features Fish, frontman with Marillion and now solo, Mott The Hoople and The Cult.

Originally formed back in 1969 and responsible for the classic All the Young Dudes, Mott the Hoople's line-up for the 2018 festival exclusive will be Ian Hunter, Ariel Bender, and Morgan Fisher with James Mastro, Mark Bosch, Dennis Dibrizzi, Paul Page and Steve Holley, playing the Main Stage.

Also playing the Main Stage will be riotous rockers Steel Panther, who have shared stages with the likes of Def Leppard and Motley Crue and Glasgow hard rockers GUN.

Other acts include Myles Kennedy, Skinny Molly, No Hot Ashes and Thomas Wynn And The Believers. Myles Kennedy, plays the Country Stage in what will be his first UK solo festival appearance. Skinny Molly were founded in 2004 by guitarist/vocalist Mike Estes, formerly of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackfoot, with Dave Hlubek and studio drummer Kurt Pietro.

There will also be sets by Steve Earle & The Dukes, Halestorm, Blackberry Smoke, Sons Of Apollo and Northern Irish three-piece Therapy.

If any band knows a thing or two about curveballs – and how to knock ‘em out of the park – it’s Glasgow’s hard rockers GUN. Hit albums and singles, break-ups, line-up changes - they've done them all and more.

Fresh from their releasing their seventh studio album Favourite Pleasures recorded in their own Morse Code studios in Paisley, they play Ramblin' Man on the Saturday. Here, frontman Dante Gizzi talks cassettes, loving the festival vibe and a few big names...

We came to Ramblin' Man Fair last year... but we weren't playing! We didn't come to play, just to hang out. We had a great time and we met the guys from Planet Rock and so we wanted to play this one. Festivals are brilliant. The audience is a mixed fan base. It isn't totally your crowd but I love being able to win an audience. To win new fans and put on a good show. I just really enjoy it. From the audience's persoective they have spent money to come and see it. So you've got to put on a good show.

We released our latest album on cassette as well as CD and vinyl... We sold quite a few tapes - it was definitely in the hundreds. People with older cars or maybe who have got old hi fi systems in their houses like them. It was a nice wee gimmick to go with. Vinyl's popular but we thought this would be good - it's nice to give the fans something like that. They are very die hard. It went well enough, I think we'll do it again.

We recorded our album in our own studio... It was great, an experience. We have had other bands in there, it was a bit of trial and error to start with. It was quite basic to begin with. I played a big part in the way the album sounded. It's also the third album that I have recorded as a vocalist. We wanted to go back to how GUN sounded in the early 90s. We made it sound how we wanted it to sound.

We have acts we want to see if we get time... I want to see The Cult. We toured with them a few years back in Slovenia and Croatia and they are really good guys. I can vividly remember getting so drunk when we won an MTV award for our cover version of Word Up with Ian Ashby (their lead singer). We were so drunk and just chatting away. I hate flying and I have a drink so I can get on the plane because I'm so nervous. I think I overdid it that time. I also would like to see Steel Panther.

We toured with the Rolling Stones... We were in our trailer one day and and Jools (Gizzi, band member and brother) said to me "Mick Jagger's coming over" and I didn't even turn round because I didn't believe him. But sure enough it was him and he came and chatted to us and thanked us for touring with them. He was like 'anything you want, anythng you need' - it was unbelievable.

I love what I do... it doesn't feel like work. It never has really.

Former cage-fighter turned blues singer Kris Barras played the event last year and returns this year.

Since his last performance, the 32-year-old has signed a record deal, completed a successful European tour and been voted one of Britain’s best blues guitarists.

He said: “People used to think I was crazy to be fighting in cages, risking damage to my hands but the truth is, I always enjoyed it and found the fighting world offered me more opportunities than the music industry.

“I got to fight in front of 8,000 people in Asia. I would much rather have played to them instead of getting punched in the face.”

“Fighting was an adrenaline thing. I got a massive buzz doing it. It was incredible. You’re under incredible amounts of pressure. If you put a foot wrong, you don’t just lose, you can lose your teeth. But I thrive on pressure, whether that’s fighting or music.”

He plays Ramblin’ Man Fair on the Sunday.

DETAILS

Ramblin’ Man Fair will be in Mote Park, Maidstone on Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 1. Tickets cost £256 for VIP Saturday and Sunday, £156 general admission Saturday and Sunday, with camping starting at £49. To book go to ramblinmanfair.com