WHICH rock star performed to average audiences of 25,000 people in 2002 and 2003... but is playing to a few hundred avid fans in the South in the coming week?

It's a question to stump most pop quiz anoraks, but it really won't worry Nils Lofgren too much, one of rock's great unsung heroes and a guitar player respected around the world.

Nils (pictured) is in the UK for an 18-date acoustic tour, taking in The Anvil tomorrow and the Brook in Southampton on Saturday.

As a key member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, he has played before millions in theatres and stadiums across the globe - including an estimated three million people in 120 concerts during The Rising tour.

But he's also a star in his own right and, accompanied by Buck Brown, he's aiming to give his eager fans another taste of his songwriting ability and that distinctive voice.

His 36-year career took flight as rock legend Neil Young's 17-year-old guitar player, and, after forming Grin, he launched a successful solo career in 1979. This led to him headlining thousands of major concerts with his own band and producing many critically-acclaimed albums.

The day before he left to fly to Britain, he was performing to thousands of fans at the final Vote For Change concert with Springsteen and his fellow E-Streeters, but admitted: "I'm really excited to come back to the UK. We're going to do an acoustic duo and we're in pretty good shape. I'm looking forward to letting people know we're still around and I'm hoping, after I get back in November, that we're going to start working on another solo record for my website."

Admitting that the days of lucrative record deals are behind him, Nils says: "The music business is just so crazy, I just don't see myself hooking up with a record company anymore. With my website, it's much more grass roots. It's smaller numbers, but it's very authentic and it's really how I started 36 years ago."

But the electric guitar for which he's famed hasn't been packed away completely.

Nils says: "The show is mainly acoustic, but I'll pick up the electric occasionally and do some soloing and stretching out and I'll go over to the piano and sit down and play the piano for four or five tunes.

"We cover a lot of territory with a lot of different sounds, trying to keep it fresh for the audience."

Nils Lofgren appears at The Anvil tomorrow, at 7.45pm.

Tickets, priced £20, are available from the box office on 01256 844244.