Acclaimed singer Vince Freeman will be stopping off at his current home in Cheltenham during a nationwide tour in April.

Freeman will be playing a gig at the Parabola Arts Centre at Cheltenham Ladies College on Saturday, April 27.

As the title of his forthcoming debut album suggests, the scars are as important as the glory to Freeman. 'Scars, Ghosts & Glory' is a 12-track collection of songs produced by Paul Visser (aka GoldCrush), brimming with powerful earworms and honest tales.

Scars also take a literal form for Freeman, who spent six years in pain, consistently under the surgeon's knife, perennially fearful that he'd never walk or perform again. Making a miraculous, full recovery, he's ready to make the most of what life has to offer.

As it did for many, the pandemic derailed Freeman, switching gears and opening a mobile coffee stall, Coffee Rocks. Some well-timed good-karma, perhaps, an entertainment lawyer buying a coffee at a festival led to Freeman able to raise the funds to complete his album and set up his own label, Kinetic Records, to release it.

He says: "It certainly wasn't the fairytale that I wanted it to be. It was hard work. But sometimes it's hard work that makes things open up."

Freeman's career is one to be admired, and one always centered around hard work. As a regular performer at West London club, Ginglik, Freeman founded their popular night 'Shush', performing alongside and/or helping to give early opportunities to the likes of Ed Sheeran, Paolo Nutini, Newton Faulkner and Nizlopi.

Later, around the time he was part of TV talent show The Voice under the mentorship of The Script's Danny O'Donoghue, Freeman was playing 300 gigs a year.

Performing at the likes of the F1 at Silverstone, horse-racing at Ascot, the FA Cup Final, receiving a platinum disc (for a collaboration with Lost Frequencies), five European Top 10s, sharing stages with Eric Clapton, Paul Weller, Jocelyn Brown, and Jamie Woon, and even has a thank you on Ed Sheeran's debut album, Freeman has had undeniable success.

'Scars, Ghosts & Glory' is the sound of a musician who has poured everything of himself into his music, made his own luck, overcame life-threatening challenges and been his own best ambassador. This is Vince Freeman's journey and his towering achievement.

Tickets for the Cheltenham gig are available on the door, no advance.