Musician and ex-John Bentley School pupil Bobby Long is preparing to release his debut studio album.

Mr Long, 24, grew up in Calne and attended the school, before moving to New York to carve out out a career in music.

Since moving to the US, he has caused something of a stir with his acoustic, folk-inspired live sessions.

And now he has recorded his debut album, A Winter Tale, which is released in the US and available to download from February 1.

Mr Long said: “I was brought up in Calne so I was loosely influenced by my friends and the people I was close to.

“When I was growing up, there really wasn't much for kids to do so you had to delve into your imagination and look for other entertainment away from the place.

“The John Bentley School was a good place to go and although music wasn’t their biggest concern we got to play and use the spaces for mucking around together and playing songs.

“I only have good things to say about that school. I found school difficult at times but there were good teachers there when I was growing up.”

He said: “My friends at Bentley were cool and still are. Some of them came out for a show in Berlin and it made my night.”

Blayne Cooper, head of performing arts at John Bentley, said: “Rob hadn’t done much drama or music until he started sixth form. But we fairly quickly realised he had something special about him.

“He was quite multi-talented - he was also a great actor and could easily have gone down that route. He was in our production of Oliver and gave a memorable performance. But his real passion was for writing and performing music.”

Mr Long’s success in the US was sparked by an appearance on the soundtrack to the 2008 blockbuster film Twilight, through his college friendship with its star Robert Pattinson.