Tony Bengtsson started his musical life quite late - at the age of 17 in fact.
Taking up the drums whilst studying for his A levels he spent the next few years of his life playing for various cover and original bands as well as studying his instrument at college.
However it wasn’t until a relationship breakdown back in 2004 that he started to put pen to paper and found that rather than sit and beat himself up about the disaster, he’d write about it!
Listening to Tony’s music is like reading aloud his diary. Everything he writes about is down to personal experiences.
Tony - “I’ve noticed people relate a lot more to the honest approach. Not only that but it makes for good therapy!”
Well therapy or not, 2009 brought a lot to write about. His father died in January, he lost his job in August and his fiancée left him for a member of her band just before Christmas, which in effect meant he lost his home too.
“As cold as the fire” was put together towards the end of that year, while still able to exploit the violin playing services of his fiancée! The album was a collection of experiences across the 2 years leading up to the end of 2009 and from December that year until now it’s been onwards and upwards for Tony.
Since then “As cold as the fire” has received amazing reviews, not least of all in the Americana music magazine “Maverick”, who gave it a more than respectable 4.5 stars out of 5.
He’s also firmly established himself as one of the top songwriter/performers around the north east of England today. Not bad for a bedroom songsmith from South Shields! | 
