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Writer's pictureBen Hemming

Back to Blighty

Updated: Feb 1, 2020


And so I have returned to London, and have landed full of mixed feelings. On the one hand happy to be back and filled with a renewed enthusiasm and desire to push ahead with new goals. And on the other a sadness that the adventure is over (for the time being at least) But there are plenty of new ones ahead I’m sure. In my last update I was about to enter Stockholm, with no gig lined up because of a last minute cancellation, and then on to Oslo were my tour would come to an end.

On reaching Stockholm, By ferry, I spent the next couple of days as a tourist sight seeing and partying. I chatted with locals in the aim of looking for a gig and even bumped into a touring band who were busking on the streets, and on finding out I was a singer invited me to join them singing an old blues number they played especially. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a great little blues bar called ‘Stampen’ in the Old city area of the town, that I had some luck. On inquiring within I found out that although they were fully booked for acts they did hold an open mic night, which turned out to be a fantastic experience. The night it’s self was packed full of punters and I as given the chance to play a couple of songs giving the backing band a break between sets. I was also able to get a great contact in the form of the organizer who was more than happy to put me on for future bookings.

It was on to Norway and some well needed R and R at a cousins chalet by a lake in the countryside. This gave me a chance to contemplate on what lied ahead in England and the events of the past weeks. I then headed back into Oslo and an open mic that I had found out about running on a friday night. On getting to the quaint little bar and cafe I was told there was only one other act playing at the night and I was welcome to play the rest of the evening. So I ended up playing a full set to a very appreciative little crowd. It was then off for more drinks and inevitable hangover that ensued.

And so I find myself back in London, with much in the pipeline. As you can see by the YouTube clip above I have been busy filming more videos for ‘The Camden Project’. The song ‘It Rained So Hard’ was record at my new flat and is taken from the album ‘Broken Man’ available to download on iTunes, Amazon, and stream on Spotify. I also got around to digitizing the version of ‘The Old Country’ that I had recorded onto vinyl in the Booth at Third Man Records (Jack Whites Record company) last summer in Nashville on my little tour of the US.


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