Ed Sheeran set for Wolverhampton Civic gigs

2011 was a breakthrough year for Yorkshire-born singer songwriter Ed Sheeran. And he is starting off 2012 in the same manner, having sold out Wolverhampton Civic Hall for two straight nights.

The Suffolk-raised 20-year-old burst into mainstream consciousness in last year when his debut single The A Team debuted at number three in the UK chart.

And fans will be able to enjoy a medley of hits from the star's highly successful album '+' as well as his other collections when he takes to the stage on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sheeran, who lists acts James Morrison, Example, and Just Jack among his influences, is known for blending chilled out acoustic melodies with urban-inspired rapid-fire lyrics. Among the likely highlights of his set are likely to be The A Team, which sold more than 58,000 copies in the first week of release and was the highest-selling and highest-charting debut single of 2011.

Other singles Lego House and You Need Me are also expected to have the crowd swaying and singing.

Sheeran's no stranger to hard graft, and his story is an endearingly old-fashioned one.

To the casual observer, his 'journey' from bedroom obscurity to 100,000 sales of his debut album '+' was something of an overnight sensation.

In reality, Sheeran started seriously planning his rise to stardom when he was just 16.

"I first picked up a guitar when I was 10 or 11," he explains. "I picked up a few chords and quite quickly started writing my own songs using other people's chord structures.

"By the time I was 14 or so I thought music was something I'd like to do, and then by 16 I started to think it was something I could do. That's when I took all the big risks."

In 2005 Sheeran, who was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and moved to Framlingham in Suffolk with his Irish parents as a small child, released his first EP, The Orange Room.

This was followed by four more independently-released EPs, two albums (2006's Ed Sheeran and Want Some? in 2007) and, in 2008, a move to London to concentrate on playing live shows. Sheeran also worked as a touring guitar technician for Nizlopi (of The JCB Song fame) and went into competition with James Morrison.

After reading an interview with the gravel-voiced You Give Me Something singer, who claimed to have played 200 gigs in a year, Sheeran wanted to do a bit better.

"I played 312 shows in 2009," he says. "Sometimes to no one, or five people, often to more."

Aside from a hard slog, the key to Sheeran's current success seems to be word of mouth. Thanks to his constant gig-playing, he's made more than a few high-profile friends. But crucially, it's been the stars of the UK grime and hip hop community who have adopted Sheeran as their own.

Read any interview with the likes of Wretch 32, Devlin, Wiley, Example, Tinie Tempah or Labrinth and they'll all drop their friend's name into conversation.

On the surface, it might not seem like acoustic guitar-playing Sheeran, from a rural Suffolk idyll, and the rapping stars of a music genre born on the streets of London, would have much in common, but looks can be deceiving. "I think if you take away genre barriers, good music is good music," says Sheeran.

Perhaps unknown to some new fans, Sheeran has also previously released several other song collections, including No.5 Collaborations Project featuring appearances by grime artists including Wiley, JME, Devlin, Sway and Ghetts. He also released a self-titled album in 2006 and Want Some? in 2007. Sheeran also self-released two other EPs in 2010; Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford and Songs I Wrote With Amy, which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with fellow singer songwriter Amy Wadge.

After Wolverhampton, Sheeran will head to further sold out shows in Brixton and Belfast before heading to New York for a show on January 30.