Frank Turner

HE STARTED OUT AS A PUNK ROCKER, BUT NOW FRANK TURNER IS TAKING INSPIRATION FROM OUTLAW COUNTRY LEGENDS, WRITING SONGS ABOUT POWERFUL WOMEN AND PLAYING ALL OVER THE WORLD WITH HIS ACOUSTIC

- Jonathan Horsley

Performance can be the hardest skill for a musician to master. No matter the size of the venue or the occasion, there’s an emotional intimacy to performing that you will have to reconcile with. There is an immediacy, too, an ephemeral, protean energy that’s impossible to replicate. As Frank Turner describes it, there is an art to performing that’s distinct from the ability to play.

Turner came out of the UK post-hardcore scene at the turn of the century with Million Dead, going solo in 2005 once the band split, putting a folk spin on his punk sensibilities and embracing his acoustic as the primary medium for his message. He says you can tell which artists have played their share of bad shows and pushed through to the other side.

“It took me a few years to figure out that performance is a different skill to musicianship,” he says. “There have been plenty of shows where I have come off thinking, ‘Why did I even fucking bother?’ You go onstage, pour your heart out, and no one gives a toss, but that comes with the territory. If you are going to try and make a living jumping around the world and emoting at people, you have got to be prepared for the idea that not everybody is going to be interested.”