Book Review: The Road Beneath My Feet

‘I think breaking down the barrier between musicians and everyone else is important…’

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Frank Turner has built a successful career complete with legions of loyal fans based on one simple principle. He is real. Turner has a unique relationship with his followers, mainly due to his own hard work and dedication. Turner and his band The Sleeping Souls are just as comfortable in front of 12000 baying lunatics at Wembley Arena as they are playing to a handful of people in someone’s front room.

The Road Beneath My Feet is not an autobiography as such, but it was written exclusively by Frank Turner, without the help of a ghost writer. Rather than a life story, it is a tour diary, taking in humble beginnings following the split of his band Million Dead to the aforementioned Wembley spectacle and beyond.

The book is an illuminating and honest glimpse of life on the road and it offers a fascinating insight into life as a touring musician. Turner is candid about his relationships without ever being trashy and he offers contrition for times when he feels he has done wrong.

Turner is not a flamboyant writer but he is interesting and funny and unsurprisingly he makes a great story teller. Despite all its positives however, there are times when The Road Beneath My Feet feels a little repetitive but this is more a reflection of the cyclic nature of life on the road than a reason for criticism.

Frank Turner’s book is perhaps one for fans only but anybody who has been enraptured by Turner and his unbelievable live show will find a lot to enjoy in The Road Beneath My Feet.