On the Road Not Taken is a memoir by Paul Dodgson which tells of his own unique journey and the power of music…and how it’s never too late to follow your dreams.
“My name is Paul Dodgson. When I was a teenager all I wanted to do was to go out on the road with a guitar and a headful of songs.
“But that was too scary so I got a proper job instead.
Thirty years later, I headed out through the door and did it for real.”
This new memoir tracks Paul’s teenage love affair with music in the small town of Hythe in Kent during the 1970s. It juxtaposes this with the story of his return to the stage in Bristol in 2016. His teenage self is at first enthralled by the pop group Mud, before moving through prog and punk, finally appreciating the power of the solo acoustic troubadour at a Ralph McTell concert. Then Paul stopped singing in public.
After a gap of more than 30 years, he plucked up the courage to stride on to the stage of Bristol Old Vic Theatre and sing again. On his adult journey, Paul watched artists including Jim Moray, Laura Marling and Oysterband, trying to incorporate what he heard and saw into nascent performances in theatres, festivals and clubs around the UK and beyond. All the while struggling with stage fright and trying to be good enough to get away with it.
On the Road Not Taken is a love story about the transformational power of music, about the past and the present and finally living the dream, which of course turns out to be rather different to what he imagined. It is a book where as much pleasure is to be found in tiny moments, such as changing the strings or playing the guitar in the garden on a summer night, as there is to be had singing in front of an enthusiastic crowd at a bar in Berlin.
On The Road Not Taken has also been dramatised and broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
A delight… It drew me in and wouldn’t let me go. Chris Stewart, author of Driving Over Lemons and the first drummer of Genesis.
Rammed with the thrills of recognition… charming and evocative. Mark Ellen, writer, broadcaster, and author of ‘Rock Stars Stole My Life!’
On The Road Not Taken is out now in paperback, ebook and audiobook.
