Singing his way from Accrington to America, rock ‘n’ roller Damian Joyce has penned a novel documenting his rise to LA fame.

Damian, 45, has written film scores for Warner Brothers, shared drinks with Clint Eastwood and performed alongside the likes of Blondie and The Stranglers.

Born and raised in the borough, Damian was always confident of cracking the music industry and moved to Spain in 1988 to follow his dream.

He said: “From a young age I always wanted to be a musician.

“I went on a few holidays with lads when I was younger and really liked the lifestyle in Spain.

“I lived there performing for 10 years and eventually I was offered a record deal and moved to LA.”

The record deal did not go as planned but the former Mount Carmel pupil remained undeterred in his musical ambition.

Damian said: “After the deal didn’t work out I did a five-year stint performing in Las Vegas - that was amazing.

“It was great to see my name up in lights in Vegas and it was cool showing the lads back home.”

After releasing his second album in 2009, the former Church and Oswaldtwistle cricketer decided it was time for a new challenge.

Damian said: “I just felt the urge to write and the book is really a reflection of how it was growing up in the 80s in Accrington.

“It was quite rough and ready and society turned more of a blind eye to a lot of things. I wanted to try and show that in the book so it is quite dark at times.”

Largely autobiographical, ‘The Dreamer’s Road’ tells the story of Jack Jordan, a bright, talented boy struggling to flourish in Thatcherite Britain.

Damian, who gets back to see mum and dad Eileen and Denis, at the family home in Laburnum Drive, Oswaldtwistle, as often as he can, paid tribute to the town that shaped his rise to fame.

He said: “One thing I am sure of is that Accrington gave me a good grounding.

“It set me up in the right way to deal with the different people and situations I have entered into.

“I have always been thoroughly grateful that I was brought up in this place.”

Damian also has plans to pen a further two novels documenting Jack’s experiences in Spain and LA.

The book is now available from all online book stores.

For more details visit www.damianjoyce.com .