Paul Carrack is a hit on opening night of Maryport Blues Festival

According to legend, passed on in whispers from the Deep South, Bluesman Robert Johnson made a pact with the Devil at a midnight crossroads. In exchange for his young soul, Johnson received the gift of the Blues, a precocious gift that would see him cement his place in contemporary music history, achieve fame and notoriety, and eventually die a violent death at the hands of a starstruck lover's cuckolded husband.

Luckily, at £105 for a weekend pass the price of the Blues nowadays is not nearly as high. Although, whilst the nearest crossroads here is host to a village Church and Post Office rather than dark, satanic pacts, it would seem the spirit of Johnson is alive and well in this sleepy corner of the Lake District.

Maryport Blues Festival is now well established on the summer festival scene. This year is the 12th, and its burgeoning reputation is evident in the quality of this year's line up. Headliners including The Robert Cray Band, Booker T, and Paul Carrack were this year supported by, among others, Woodstock veterans Canned Heat, The Hoax, Mica Paris and The Marcus Bonfanti Band. This combination of classic and contemporary is reflected in the eclectic audience mix and, here in Maryport, there has been plenty to satisfy Blues fans of all ages and persuasions.

Friday was a lively opening day. Arriving slightly late, yet buoyed by the abundance of cheap parking space, we made our way to the main tent stopping only for much needed sustenance at 'Grills to Fill' a behemoth of a burger van offering if not gourmet cuisine, certainly higher quality grub than normal festival fare. Hunger abated, we perused the excellent variety of memorabilia and instrument stalls.

Classic instruments, clothing, ornaments, artwork and an enormous selection of CDs and Vinyl's were on display around the main space. The main venue is spacious, well laid-out and the atmosphere just as warm and inviting as you would expect from a crowd with a shared interest in great music. This complimented the lively atmosphere we had experienced on the blues trail in the town centre pubs, all coming together to create a jovial atmosphere between visitors and locals. Maryport really does its best to make this a town-wide event, and there has been no shortage of revellers all weekend.

Back in the main tent the crowd were in fine fettle, having been warmed up nicely by the consistently excellent Feed Me, and Gregg Wright Band, when on to the stage sauntered The Hoax, bringing fresh impetus to proceedings with a their rock influenced blues. The audience responded accordingly, prompting one reveller to proclaim loudly that they are "the best blues band in the UK." Given the impact they have had on the British blues scene over the best part of 20 years that claim is difficult to argue against, especially when The Hoax are in full swing. 2010 marks the band's 20th anniversary and they marked the occasion with a barnstorming set that paved the way for a weekend of the highest quality blues.

At 11pm, with much anticipation amongst the revellers, it was time for Friday's headliner Paul Carrack to take the stage. Carrack has impeccable pedigree, cutting his teeth with Squeeze and Mike and the Mechanics, and the esteem in which he is held amongst a crowd schooled in the greatest of music traditions, was evident from the outset. From the moment he strolled onstage, complete with silver trilby and obligatory shades and accompanied by guitarist, bassist, drummer, keysman, backing vocalist and two-piece horn section, Carrack was a hit in Maryport.

The band kicked off with 'No Doubt About It', a funky fusion of jazz-influenced basslines, strolling lazily alongside joyful, unrestrained saxophone like a master with an unruly pup. This led the way for a finely honed and masterfully delivered set. Whilst Carrack was keen to remind us that they were "not necessarily a blues band", the richness of his vocals has tones of those great bluesman such as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters or the great Bobby Bland, who Carrack covered with the classic 'Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City'. If that went down well with the crowd, it was nothing to the reception given to his more famous hits. At number four in the set Carrack brought out the Squeeze classic 'Tempted', and if the lyrics reflect a soul drifting towards infidelity, there was to be no such betrayal from a clearly smitten audience, who lapped up everything the old master had to offer. The love affair continued through the excellent 'Better than Nothing', which allowed Carrack to show off his versatility with a stomping piano solo and reached a heady climax with the heartbreaking Mike and the Mechanics' 'The Living Years'. Carrack has clearly played this tune a thousand times but it has lost none of its power to stun an audience into momentary silence during the crushing third verse:

I wasn't there that morning, When my Father passed away,
I didn't get to tell him all the things I had to say.
But I think I saw his spirit, later that same year,
I'm sure I heard his echo in my baby's newborn tears.
I just wish I could have told him in the Living Years.

However, Carrack accompanies this most personal despair with a message of hope that invigorated the crowd as he implored them to "say it loud, say it clear", and the message that we should appreciate what we hold dear brought a positivity to the crowd that lasted through to the raucously received encore of 'Looking Back Over my Shoulder' and Marvin Gaye's classic 'What’s Going On?'

With a well deserved nod of recognition to his outstanding band and a gravel-voiced "take it easy"; Carrack was gone, leaving us looking back over our shoulder for more as we made our way into the warm Cumbrian night.

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