IT is not easy to go rock-a-bye baby when your daddy is setting the keyboards on fire with some blistering boogie woogie.

Mike Sanchez, one of Britain’s top R&B and rock musicians, and his singer wife Sarah Wynne did not have a baby sitter for their gig at Eastleigh’s Concorde Club.

Baby son Louie Ray was looked after in the bandroom while his talented mum hit the stage running with some rip roaring blues classics including Walk Right In Walk Right Out.

Then she dashed backstage to rock little Louie to sleep. But there was no danger of the Concorde audience nodding off as they were treated to an electrifying medley of blues, rockabilly and rock ‘n roll.

A former member of Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, Mike hits the keyboards with such energy that it is like a machine gun stuck in rapid fire mode.

His mega watt personality lit up every corner of the club and it did not take long to get the party going as a frenzy of jive dancing broke out between the tables. Mike, who is also singer and guitarist, opened the show with Red Hot Mama and he did not draw breath with a conveyor belt of rock and blues classics.

It was also a salute to the American messiahs of rock and blues like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Little Walter.

There was great interpretations of I’m Such A Hungry Man, I’m A Coal Mining Man and Welsh rock star Dave Edmunds’ Deep In The Heart of Texas.

Surrounded by some of the country’s finest musicians, Mike does not have a set list but just lets the music flow and he certainly makes those keyboards do the talking.

After the gig the very affable Mr Sanchez promised to email me the playlist as he broke away from a busy session of signing copies of his newly released biography, Mike Sanchez: Big Town Playboy.

It documents his 15 year long career with the Big Town Playboys, the British R& B revival group who cover American music from the early 1940s to 1950s.

He became hooked on rock ‘n roll when he bought his first vinyl in Woolworths at the age of 14.

Mike is still very much committed to keeping quality vintage rock ‘n roll alive. His unique style of music has won many admirers including guitar god Eric Clapton.

Mike has appeared with many rock, soul and blues legends including Clapton, Ben E King, Percy Sledge, Sam Moore, Georgie Fame, Beverly Skeete, Albert Lee, Jeff Beck and Andy Fairweather-Low.

And Mike’s main aim has always been to make every live show his best yet. He certainly proved that at Eastleigh. He be rocking and rolling at the Isle of Wight’s Midsummer Jazz on June 28.