LOCAL HEROES

Anyone who tries to name the UK’s musical hotspots will come up with a handful of familiar places: outside London there’s Brighton, Manchester, Cardiff, Tunbridge Wells, Leeds, Glasgow and - hold on, did you say Tunbridge Wells?

Indeed we did, rather unbelievably. While it might lack the cool cachet of some of those other towns, in recent years Tunbridge Wells has been quietly forging a reputation as the home of a thriving contemporary music scene.

A dozen or so local performers and bands, such as Tom Williams and the Boat, the Charlie Rivers Band and the Varlies, are making the national music press sit up; and big names – well, biggish – now include the town in their tour itineraries. (The fact that Tunbridge Wells can only offer them a converted public toilet as its best venue is shameful, but that’s another story.)

And, remarkably, one man is driving this movement almost single-handedly.

For the past five years, Paul Dunton has organised a twice-weekly evening of local music at the intimate Grey Lady on the Pantiles. On Wednesdays and Sundays throughout the year, he arranges a series of candlelit showcases of the area’s best soloists and acoustic bands.

On each of these evenings four acts play a variety of styles and genres, from a folky singer/songwriter such as Zoe Nicol to the indie sounds of Cyrano.

Dunton has about 150 acts on his roster with nearly 50 more on a waiting list, such is the healthy state of Tunbridge Wells music.

CUT-THROAT

And what’s most impressive about this activity is that Dunton is a busy singer/songwriter himself. He’s recorded three albums, the latest a live recording last November.

Given the cut-throat nature of the entertainment business, it would have been understandable if he’d concentrated solely on carving out a name for himself and let others find their own way.

Instead, he’s given a helping hand to many a performer who would still be standing in front of their bedroom mirror holding a hairbrush instead of a mic were it not for him.

As an aside, he’s also rejuvenated the Grey Lady from what was a fairly run-down club that couldn’t even justify opening on those two nights before he came along.

Building on that success, recently he founded the Local and Live festival of original acoustic music featuring 50 or so acts from his roster. In just four years, this end-of-August event has become a staple of the summer, attracting crowds of 10,000 and threatening to outgrow its current home on the Pantiles.

Yet none of this might have happened if Dunton hadn’t felt a painful twinge in one of his legs about eight years ago.

Anyone listening to his soulful ballads, tinged with classical tones and wrapped in thoughtful lyrics, would have no idea that away from the keyboard, Dunton is a serious golfer who's enjoyed success as a tournament professional for several years in the UK and abroad.

He grew up in Fordcombe and went to Sackville School in Hildenborough but as a young boy with an obvious talent for sinking golf balls, Paul abandoned his studies and left, aged 16 and with his parents’ blessing, to pursue his sporting dream.

He’d been playing seriously since he was nine and at 14 Dunton was invited to play in Europe. Millfield, the specialist sports school in Somerset, beckoned, as did a scholarship to the US. But he decided to stay here.

EXCRUCIATING

Throughout these early years his interest in music was also flowering. Up to the age of 13 he pursued this interest as well, composing in his spare time and singing in the choir at Tonbridge School, but then gave it up to concentrate on golf.

That was all he did for the next 10 years, until he developed sciatica – an excrutiating condition that affects the main nerve in the leg - and had to give up golf. His enforced break lasted nine months and during that time he began composing and playing the piano again. Golfing’s loss was music’s gain because since then Paul Dunton’s tireless promoting of local bands has made Tunbridge Wells – this apparent bastion of stuffy colonel-dom – the least likely home for a healthy young music scene.

So, Paul, tell us about the early days. Who and what stimulated the young Dunton’s creative juices?

Well, I taught myself piano, and my compositions were heavily influenced by Rachmaninov and Samuel Barber as well as a lot of modern stuff.

Tell us about the act of composing for you. Does a tune come into your head first or a story? In what order does it happen?

I write a medley on the piano first. The lyrics come last. When I’ve done that I’ll compose arrangements for the band [Paul Dunton’s backing band, The Crew, comprises a violinist, cellist and flautist, occasionally augmented by other classically trained musicians].

The Crew played a big part in the recording of your live album back in November. Why did you want to do a live recording?  

Yes, that’s right, the Crew was much bigger that night – six violins, four cellos, and a flautist; it was like a mini orchestra. I felt the time was right to do a live album. I’ve been getting stronger over the years – my first album in 2004 had a few good songs, but lyrically it was a bit weak. My second had a classical pop sound and was much better. I’d reached the point where I felt confident I could do well under the pressure of a live recording. I wanted that challenge.

Now that’s under your belt [the album is currently being mixed and is due for release later in 2010] what are your next challenges?

I want to see Local and Live continue to grow. I feel it’s become part of Tunbridge Well’s culture. Up to now it’s been a labour of love, though, so it would be nice to make some money from it. On a personal level I want to get my music used on TV and in films. I’m keen to see if it would appeal to advertisers. I feel it would. And in particular I want to move into the classical cross-over field.

www.pauldunton.co.uk