He began 2005 playing the intimate Dublin venue CrawDaddy. By the end of it he was announcing two shows at the Point Theatre. In between there was a single you couldn't escape no matter how hard you tried... to say 2005 was quite a year for James Blunt is as big an understatement as saying that his debut album, 'Back to Bedlam', has 'sold a few copies'.

Blunt's transition from who to somebody in the eyes of the media hasn't exactly followed the traditional route for singer-songwriters. The son of an army colonel, music didn't feature largely in Blunt's household but he learned piano at boarding school and then, like a generation of others, picked up a guitar at the age of 14 to play along to Nirvana's 'Nevermind'. He went to college in Bristol, but his studies weren't followed by the backroom circuit of small gigs: instead Blunt continued the family tradition and joined the army.

Blunt became a captain and served with the peacekeeping forces in Kosovo - the song 'No Bravery' from 'Back to Bedlam' was written there. Having left the army in 2002 he decided to become a full-time musician and within months he had a management and publishing deal. A gig at the world famous South by Southwest festival brought him to the attention of songwriter Linda Perry, who signed him to her label, Custard Records. By September 2003 Blunt was recording his debut album in Los Angeles with Beck/Elliott Smith producer Tom Rothrock. The follow-up has a lot to live up to - the last two years make it seem unlikely that Blunt will suffer writer's block.

www.jamesblunt.com