In something of a backward nod to the ways of a bygone era, it’s fair to say that Ben Hemming didn’t so much find the blues… as the blues found him. It was during a particularly troublesome periodin his life, stuck in a dead end job, and having watched his girlfriend walk out of his life, thathe decided the only option was to seek change. Big change. Leaving all of his emotionalbaggagebehind, he embarked upona musical pilgrimage around America that eventually would come to define not just his sound, but also his own identity.Picking up an old guitar in a pawn shop along the way,he playedhis way across the southern states in the tradition of the delta Bluesmen before him. It was Hemming’s way of paying his dues, and of understanding a cultural heritage.
Yet in moments of brutal self-reflection, he himself knew that more than anything, thiswas aboutescape.It was whilststumbling along the main drag in Nashville one night, somewhat worse for wear, that his moment of epiphany came; heobserved a crowdsurrounding an old man playing an extraordinarily batteredone string guitar,made from nothing more than a broom handle and a box, whilstplaying drums with his feet.
The rudimentary equipment belied a performance of musical integrity which touched Ben in a way he had never previouslybeen, and inthat moment hesensedhe had found the inspiration he was looking for;theblues came not from the destination, but from the journey, and from the rawness of its expression.He eventually returned toLondon with acollection of songs he’d written along the road, which went on to form the basis of his debut album, the aptly titled‘Broken Man’. Recorded with nothing more than the equipment he had to hand, he self-released the album to critical acclaim; TheBlues Magazine called him ‘A unique musical identity’; Blues Blast Magazine
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