This entertainer is a real Gentleman

GENTLEMAN GUEST: Auckland-based singer songwriter Callum Gentleman.

Callum Gentleman - impresario, raconteur, troubadour, trouper, and showman - is to bring his refined brand of music and entertainment to the Cross Creek Blues Club.

Gentleman will stage his debut Wairarapa show at the Tin Hut in Tauheranikau on October 2 with club members providing support from about 7pm and the man himself set to play about 9pm, says club spokesman Rod Lawrence.

Gentleman's musical career began while he was a varsity student in Auckland and progressed over time to clubs and pubs in East London while completing his big OE in Britain, Mr Lawrence said.

"These included The George in Mile End - a former haunt of Justin Timberlake, Amy Winehouse and Pete Docherty - culminating in performances at the The Spitz and Cargo clubs in London, and in Paris, where he worked at a venue next door to Moulin Rouge."

Since returning home to Auckland five years ago, he said, Gentleman has been involved in the music scene in the City of Sails, promoting gigs as well as playing.

He hosts a show every Tuesday at Cafe one2one in Ponsonby, and for the past year has been producing an Americana evening called Snakeskin Suitcase, with artists like Delaney Davidson, The Bads, Great North, The Eastern, and many others.

Mr Lawrence said Gentleman also has appeared on the bill with many great musicians including Age Pryor and Chris O'Connor, The Jews Brothers, Tiny Ruins, Heart Attack Alley, Bond Street Bridge and Esther Stephens.

Gentleman describes himself as "a storyteller with a gift for entertaining and an observer of the world's quirky aspects who turns them into song".

He attributes Bob Dylan as one of his greatest musical influences, and credits the American singer songwriter for informing his own approach to song writing and storytelling.

"I thrive on the interaction between the music and the audience and I really just love the people you get to meet - musicians, bartenders, audience."