Cam Cole, ‘The Heaviest One Man Band in the World’
Artist highlight via Kenzie Gay - @kenzwrites
Arguably my favorite part of big cities is the aspect of music. Locals playing their hearts out on the street with an open guitar case and nothing but their voice and instrument to guide them is truly a special treat because it takes all the fancy effects, autotune, and other factors away so passersby are left with just the raw foundations of skill that said musicians possess. In my city, this is a dying art but there is a new artist rising above the ashes all because of his street performances and that would be none other than Cam Cole, “The Heaviest One Man Band in the World”.
Cam Cole via John Ciotti
Who is Cam Cole?
As mentioned earlier, Cam Cole is an artist who first rose to prominence for his street performances in London, where he grew up. Playing as much as possible in as many areas as allowed without getting in trouble with law enforcement, Cole went viral on social media from videos that onlookers posted. His sound drew folks in due to its heavy nature that includes elements of rock, grunge, folk, and Delta blues, which earned him a cameo on the television show Ted Lasso. Tours, a documentary, and more attention followed this cameo, ultimately giving him a much larger platform that transformed him from a local street artist to a successful touring musician. As of publishing, Cole has just under 400k listeners a month via Spotify with a growing audience of 107k on Instagram.
Cam Cole: The Music
According to a Spotify playlist titled “Cam’s Influences”, Cole pulls inspiration from The White Stripes, Fleet Foxes, Black Sabbath, Korn, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, The Black Keys, and those alike; which can all be heard in one way or another through his music.
Cole first debuted on a recording-level in the fall of 2019 with his first EP titled New Age Blues , which was followed up by another EP a few weeks later called Tattoo Rings. Both of these EPs ultimately combined to make his first album, I See, which to date holds his most successful track: Mama.
After I See, Cole went on to release several records: Live Busking at Camden Town Station, his first live album, Live Acoustic From India, Crooked Hill, All the Way From Outside, Unleash, and the most recent album derived from the soundtrack of his documentary American Mileage that aired this Spring.
Cam Cole: Down the Road
2024 has been a fully booked year for Cole, as he’s toured the world playing his music to crowds of thousands but 2025 holds just as much promise. As of publishing, Cole has two confirmed sets at very credited festivals: Here for the Music in the UK and Rock for People in the Czech Republic. Other acts at these festivals include Slipknot, Linkin Park, Motionless in White, etc.
Cam Cole is available to listen to anywhere you find music and on the streets of London if you’re lucky enough. His new documentary, American Mileage, which documents Cole’s exploration of the deep south and Blues Delta is also available to watch on Tubi, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV.
