'The North West inspired my song' says Alfie Boe

Musical theatre star Alfie Boe said memories of growing up in the North West have been the inspiration behind some of his new music.

The West End and Broadway singer, from Fleetwood, told BBC Radio Lancashire he has really enjoyed writing his own lyrics and reflecting back on his life.

The story behind Face Myself, the title track of his new album, "is about growing up in the 80s and the 90s, taking trips to Manchester, going to the football, going over to Liverpool," he said.

"And I even mention Blackpool Illuminations."

Coming from a large family - he is is the youngest of nine children - he said: "Everyone had their own tastes in music so I was fortunate to experience their interests and their styles and artists that they followed, so the record collection that we had was vast."

The 52-year-old said his dad was a "huge fan of lots of styles of music - classical, country, everything under the sun".

"He was a big dancer so he loved big bands and swing music too.

"He was my first tutor, he educated my quite intensely on different styles of music.

"We could play a classical album then he'd take it off and he's put on Jim Reeves or Slim Whitman, so it would be from one extreme to the other.

"It was wonderful because it was an education that I didn't realise I was getting at the time but I realised when I got older the effect it had on my own life and my own career."

A multi-platinum selling artist and Tony Award winner, who was awarded an OBE for services to music and charity, Boe said songwriting "is for me, the best bit about being a musician. I love discovering rhythms, melodies, lyrics, stories."

"A good friend, Pete Townsend, guitarist from The Who said 'try not to write rhymes, try not to write anything structurally, just write images, write pictures', and that's what I've started to do.

"I can finally say you are seeing the real me, this is Alfie Boe the songwriter, and it's a place in my music career that I've wanted to get to for so, so long."

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