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SONGWRITER Steve Spall will not be listening to Jingle Bells this festive season.
Steve, who makes his living writing songs to order, stresses: "I don't do jingles."
The former wandering musician, who writes and performs personalised songs for any occasion, adds: "Actually, I specialise in slushy numbers.
"I learned to play guitar after I was given one for my 18th Birthday, and I have been writing songs ever since."
The self-taught musician, who spent several years touring from festival to festival with nothing more than a motorbike and a guitar, chose his unusual job when he wanted to settle down and bring up a family.
He said: "I couldn't have carried on living life on the road - I would soon have been on course for a burn-out."
But the 34-year-old, who lives in Haverhill with wife Jacqueline, three children and a cat called Kipper, hardly has an ordinary nine-to-five job.
A talented musician who sings as well as playing guitar, harmonica and bongos, he writes songs tailor-made to his customers' wishes.
He said: "People usually commission songs as a gift for a friend or loved one - I've done several wedding anniversaries and lots of romantic numbers for love struck couples.
"But I've got quite a special commission lined up - two parents have asked me to put their favourite poem to music as a present for their dying son."
Steve asks his customers to tell him what feelings they want the song to convey and chose a preferred style, and then he writes the song, records it in his studio and transfers it on to a CD for them.
The whole process usually takes around three days - one to write the song, one to record it and one to mix it and design the sleeve artwork.
He says he rarely suffers from writers' block, adding: "I work best under pressure - and I often have several songs on the go at once, so I find that if I get stuck on one, I can work on another until I suddenly think of something. If anything, I love playing guitar more now than I ever did - I've got 15 in my house, and I can't walk anywhere without picking one up and strumming away."