THIRSTY Merc are celebrating 15 years together on the road in the final leg of the Take Me Back anniversary tour.

Musicians Matthew Baker, Karl Robertson and Phil Stack played together in various bands in Dubbo and, in 1996, the band Drown was formed with Baker on guitar, Robertson on drums, Peter Jamieson on vocals and Stack on bass guitar.

It was in 2002 that Baker and Stack returned to Dubbo where Rai Thistlethwayte, from Sydney, as lead singer (later also on guitar and keyboards) and Stack worked as a live jazz duo and session musicians.

They were joined by Baker and Robertson and formed a pop rock band, initially called Thirsty; soon after they moved to Sydney and were renamed Thirsty Merc.

The band's name came from Thistlethwayte's old Mercedes Benz, which was a gas-guzzler.

Four albums and 15 years later, Thistlethwayte reminisces about the past and is focusing on the future of the band.

"It's a different tour from everything we've done before, because it's our 15-year anniversary," he said.

"It's a special reason for this tour.

"We've got four albums, so we will be playing some music that we haven't actually played before from our old albums to give the audience a music experience that shows our entire 15-year career.

"We will also be playing the hits - the well-known songs."

Thirsty Merc play the Racehorse Hotel in Ipswich on May 11.