Benny Graham served his musical apprenticeship in the folksong clubs of North East England.
Clubs like Birtley, run by the Elliott family, and Newcastle Folksong and Ballad (which featured among it's regulars the High Level Ranters and Lou Killen) were at the forefront of the British folk revival. There was no better place in the late 60's for a young singer to develop a love of the vast musical culture of the North East which takes in rural songs, Tyneside Music Hall and the music which grew from the heavy industries of coal, steel and ship building.

Having worked as a solo performer for several years Benny then formed a three part harmony band - Pegleg Ferret -touring both the UK and the continent. An opportunity to join one of Tyneside's premier theatre companies in what is now the Newcastle Playhouse provided a change of direction and enabled Benny to work with company directors Gareth Morgan and Michael Bogdanov. Since then many companies have used Benny as a singer, actor, songwriter and also Stage and Production Manager.

Theatre and Workshops .Over the years Benny has worked as a singer/songwriter in many schools, both solo and with various theatre companies, creating new drama and song. Children in Wingate Co. Durham have created a new song to commemorate the explosion that rocked their community in 1906. Their new composition was performed on the centenary of the disaster in October 2006 and a C.D. of the song was released early 2007. Singing with the pupils of Wheatley Hill Junior and drama with Seaham children were among the delights of 2006/7. A project for the Sage Gateshead involving 14 schools in North Tyneside which culminated in 1000 pupils and teachers all singing together highlighted 2008. July 2009 saw the completion of the DVD for "Coat for a Boat" which featured Benny's music. The summer ended with singing in Changeling Production's Coast to Coast ballad. The Theatre by the Lake in Keswick was the venue for new music in a youth production in the spring of 2013 and work is in progress for an international production about Elizabethville..the WW1 Belgian community in Birtley.. to be performed in 2015..Two new collaborations bring the story up to date..the first with Chuck Fleming which produced the album True and Kind. the second with "The Pitmen Poets" Jez Lowe, Bob Fox and Billy Mitchell taking the songs of the mining communities to a new level and a new audience..

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