IF YOU?VE ever tapped your feet or bobbed your head along to a Filipino band in Phuket, then the chances are that the members will have met Tata ? which means ?father? in Tagalog - the Philippines' national language.

Coinciding with his 60th birthday next year however, Ricardo ?Tata? Posadas will be leaving his ?kids? and hanging up his microphone and drum sticks and moving back to his homeland.

Manilla-born Tata has chosen this milestone as the time to stop because he feels it no longer appropriate to be living the rock ?n? roll life of a touring musician.

Tata joined the first of his many bands in 1965 and began playing abroad in the late 70?s. His musical gift and desire to entertain has taken him from Tokyo to Seoul to Bangkok and finally to Phuket where he now lives and works.

?From 1999?2001, I played in the Margarita Bar in Patong and then I went to Bangkok and stayed there until last year. I met some great musicians in Bangkok, many of whom now play in Phuket.?

During each of the interim years? high season however, Tata invariably returned to Phuket to play in the bars and clubs. This is how he came to know ?most? of the Pilipinos on the island.

?They all call me Tata as I do fatherly things for them and bring them together. I also give them advice about music and how to make friends, this is important because they are entertainers.?

Tata regularly visits Jammin? ? a pub in Phuket town - and Molly Malone?s in Patong. The majority of his time though is spent in a bar called ?Music Matter? in Phuket town; a popular place for local musicians who come to make music and perhaps some friends along the way.

Interestingly he has a table on the other side of the street where he sits with a beer and friend or two and surveys the intimate gathering of musicians. He only enters the pub when he is playing, otherwise he is very much happy on the fringes of the scene.

A scene that he admits, he is prepared to leave, ?I want to stop some time in 2011 because I will be 60 years old then. I will go back to the Philippines to teach the young ones.?

?The Philippines is a great country,? Tata adds, ?The problem is the government. That?s why we are here. If they pay us well, why would we leave? I hope it will change in the future for the younger Filipinos and Fillipinas.?

Until that time, however, it is likely that the majority of the very talented musicians and entertainers on the island will continue to be young Filipinos who come to entertain the tourists with renditions of pop and rock songs.

Tata explained why it seemed that so many of the Pilipino musicians were so gifted, ?Since grade school we take music classes that we must pass. English is also mainly our first language, so a lot of the media, songs and movies we watch are in English. We don?t rely on computers or machinery, we just play live,? said Tata.

Playing live and playing well is a great source of pride for Tata, ?I play to give back to the Phillipines and represent my country well, through doing this we can show our spirit.?

Others however, are here for more practical reasons. A singer, drummer or guitarist?s average monthly salary of between 25?30,000 baht is at least double what they could hope to earn back home.

For this they will typically play 3x45 minute sets, six nights a week, but in the low season, their salary will typically be reduced.

?You can stay or keep on moving,? said Tata. One day very soon Tata at least intends to eventually stop moving and hopes the same for the younger generations of his homeland. He believes that if only his country could become more like Phuket by attracting tourism and investment, then this would encourage home-grown talent to remain home and keep on rocking.

If Tata does leave the rock ?n? roll lifestyle next year, then he will soon be home. He is excited about the prospect and is looking forward to teaching the young ones how to rock.