RICHIE Blackmore rose to fame as the poe-faced rock god at the front of '70s legends Deep Purple. After hiring and firing countless singers, bassists, drummers and keyboard players he finally dumped them all for Rainbow, a codswallop mish mash of rock'n'Greensleaves. That was the 1970s.

The 1980s came and went, closely followed by the 1990s during which the author of the world's most famous riff, de de der, de de de-der, de de der der de-der (that's Smoke on the Water, pop lovers), slipped from view surfacing only for a few reunions of both the aforementioned bands. Later he bumped into Frank Sinatra who openly asked of him: "Who are you?"

Shocked, the mean man of rock dropped his axe for a mandolin, penned a few surprisingly good folk tunes and the medieval revival that is Blackmore's Night was born. "Frank Sinatra made me do it," he said. "I wrote the songs on the album or I liked them. Sometimes both."

Blackmore's Night features Richie Blackmore on electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, hurdy gurdy, tambourine and renaissance drum; Sir Robert of Normandie on bass and backing vocals; Carmine Giglio on keyboards; Pat Regan on keyboards; Chris Debine on violin, viola, recorders and flute; Mike Sorrentino on drums; Albert Danneman on bagpipes; Richard Wiederman on trumpets; John Passanante on trombone and Ruby's Choir.

Together with his silverly- tongued partner, Candice Night, he went from rock god to cod mediaeval tight wearer. And they are not just stage tights, he wears them off stage and: "also in bed," he said.

Bar a few Rainbow-like guitar runs in an eastern scale and some cheesy production, Blackmore's compositions are not far removed from the tunes from the Middle Ages they ape. And even with topics such as proto gallows and hanging trees, as in Hanging Tree, they are relevant to a contemporary audience.

"Interesting word - contemporary," said Richie. "Con as in conning the masses and temporary is just a fleeting moment."

Richie Blackmore answered Mono's faxed questions from New York last week, just days after the terrorist strike. He has a pad close to the island.

"I wasn't really close," he said of the disaster. "I have no relations in New York. I was North East. I feel the same as everybody else. I think they should respond in the way they respond."

A man of many notes (check out his '70s solos for the most notes bar in Christendom, at the time) and few words, Richie was not giving away much when he wrote his replies to questions like did you find parallels between Japanese and European folk songs in producing Blackmore's Night?

"No," he scribbled.

Do you enjoy playing music with Candice Night after playing with hairy beats like Ian Gillan for so many years?

"I enjoy playing music with all sorts of people," he wrote. How have audiences responded to live performances of songs from the album Fires at Midnight?

"Brilliant!" He wrote in capital letters. "They come away with a warm fuzzy feeling." Will Deep Purple ever ride again?

"I've never ridden in my life," he wrote, indignantly. Are reports of you hiring and firing people in and out of Deep Purple and Rainbow without notice, at will, exaggerated?

"No," he said. "They are understated." And that's that.

Blackmore's Night play the Swansea Grand Theatre on Thursday, September 27, at 7.30pm. Tickets are £13-18. Ring 01792 475715 for more information.