In addition to Wet Wet Wet’s The Big Picture Tour which will be commencing this February and coming to the Liverpool Echo Arena on February 27th, it has been confirmed that singer-songwriter Ben McKelvey will be providing support throughout.
With lyrical honesty and classic melodies, Ben has been likened to Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, and Paul Weller. His passionate performance and storytelling has captivated audiences across the U.K. and beyond.
Ben has performed hundreds of solo dates since 2011, embarked on a USA tour in 2014, he was an invited guest of the National competition Open Mic U.K., and played iconic venues such as the Shepherd’s Bush Empire supporting The Janoskians. His most recent E.P. Everything You Were Meant To Be has received critical acclaim, and he is now ready to hit the road with Wet Wet Wet.
Ben McKelvey grew up in West London on a musical diet of classic songwriters like Springsteen, Dylan, Cash and Joe Strummer. He formed pop-punk group Fluid Lines as a teenager, going on to record and tour the U.K. with them.
After a series of successful tours and radio exposure, the group went their separate ways in 2011. Determined to continue making music, Ben made the switch to guitar and set out as a solo artist.
His debut E.P., A Hundred Thousand Welcomes was released in October 2013. As well as showcasing McKelvey’s heartfelt lyrics and melodic sensibilities, he also played every instrument on the record. This one-man-band ethos also marked out follow-up E.P. Everything You Were Meant To Be, which also introduced the world to the anthemic single Stay Young. The record was also praised for its storytelling lyrics, which balance personal meaning to the singer with universal appeal which was then followed by acoustic-led hymn to the morning-after-the-night before summer 2015 single, Sunday.
A tireless performer, McKelvey played over 50 shows in 2014 alone. He has toured the length of the U.K. and now doubt will be a huge sensation as he goes out on the road with one of the U.K.’s most endearing bands of the last four decades.