Few places can match Paisley for historical importance, cultural richness, and sheer architectural splendour – and there’s no better way to experience its wonders than by joining the Paisley Music Trail at the Paisley Book Festival.

Led by Glasgow music aficionados Fiona Shepherd and Alison Stroak, the Trail is a foot-tapping, eye-opening journey through Paisley’s musical past and present. Their new book, Glasgow’s Greatest Hits, might focus on the city next door, but as you’ll discover, Paisley’s own musical story is so closely intertwined with Glasgow’s that the two are almost inseparable. However, in many respects, and in more than one epoch, Paisley outshone its much larger neighbour.

Our starting point is the magnificent Paisley Town Hall, recently refurbished and the home of the Paisley Book Festival itself. Here, stories tumble out – including the Town Hall riot of the 1970s, when a teenage Sidney Devine was famously drafted in to sing Scottish folk songs and calm an unruly crowd.

The Paisley Town Hall is also the spot where a young Paolo Nutini was plucked from obscurity. The story goes that Fame Academy winner David Sneddon was running late for a performance. A teenage Paolo jumped up to fill the gap, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Outside, the trail brings Paisley’s rich musical tapestry to life. We hear about the town’s sons and daughters: from Kenneth McKellar of the Lucky White Heather Club (and the UK’s very first Eurovision contestant), to disco diva Donna Marie (aka Jacqueline McKinnon) of I Feel Love fame. Yet Paisley’s musical roots go much deeper. Look to the statues in Abbey Close, where 18th-century poet-lyricists Robert Tannahill and Alexander Wilson still stand, proud and watchful reminders of a tradition that stretches back centuries.

Passing the imposing Paisley Abbey, we dive into tales of the legendary Attic Club, once run by the charismatic Danny Kyle. Here, audiences were treated to performances by the ‘Humblebums’ – none other than Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty before their personal careers went stratospheric.

In Brown’s Lane, towering murals of Gerry Rafferty mark our next stop, before we head to Shuttle Street, home to the new Bungalow. The original Bungalow, back in the Abercorn area, was the beating heart of Scotland’s punk revolution.

As Fiona, a proud Glaswegian, tells us (with a chuckle), Paisley, not Glasgow, was the place to be if you were a punk. When Glasgow City Council banned punk gigs in the late 1970s, Paisley promoters saw an opportunity, and ran with it. Suddenly, Paisley was the epicentre of the Scottish punk explosion, attracting fans from across the west and central belt.

Homegrown bands like The Fegs, Defiant Pose, Urban Enemies, and XS Discharge bossed the scene. But the list of punk legends who played here reads like a roll call of greatness: The Clash, The Fall, The Rezillos, The Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, The Buzzcocks, The Skids, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and a little-known band at the time called Johnny & The Self-Abusers – later reborn as Simple Minds!

Yet punk wasn’t Paisley’s only gift to the musical world. In the 1990s, the legendary Club 69 became an underground mecca for techno lovers. Though still going strong today, its heyday was the mid-90s, when the Detroit gods of techno would cross the Atlantic to play exclusive sets for Paisley’s lucky clubbers. With resident DJs Wilba and Martin from Rub-a-Dub and regular appearances from icons like Andrew Weatherall, the sweaty basement of the Koh-I-Noor curry house on New Sneddon Street became the stuff of legend.

Time flies when you’re soaking in so much history, and music, and before we know it, we’re winding our way back through the town’s stunning Victorian and Art Deco architecture, returning to our starting point.

What makes this tour truly special is the passion and knowledge of the guides. Fiona’s encyclopaedic grasp of music, combined with her infectious enthusiasm, makes every stop on the trail come alive.

The Paisley Book Festival doesn’t often spill out onto the streets, but when it does, it’s something extraordinary.

The Paisley Music Trail isn’t just a tour, it’s a love letter to a town whose cultural influence reaches far beyond its borders.

Joe Smith