When Tom Grennan talks about Bedford, it comes from the heart. “I came back to Bedford last weekend,” he says. “I drove in, and my wife was next to me, and I said, ‘Oh, I love this place, man.’
And she said, ‘What? Why? What’s so special about it?’ And I just said, ‘Listen. This is home.’”
For Grennan, returning to headline TK Maxx presents Bedford Summer Sessions at Bedford Park on Saturday 4 July 2026 is more than another tour date. It is personal.
“There’s something in the air in Bedford to me,” he told the Bedford Clanger. “I’m always proud to say that I started in Bedford and I’ll probably end in Bedford.”
The Bedford-born singer, who attended St Thomas More and first performed at local venues such as Bedford Esquires, has never hidden his roots. But he admits he still feels he is trying to win some people over in his hometown.
“I’ve always had the support from a lot of people in Bedford,” he says. “I’m still trying to win over people in Bedford; a lot of people still don’t really know that I’m from there. But I’m proud to say that, in my own little way, I’ve put Bedford on a little map.”
“Everybody gets on”
Ask him what makes Bedford special, and his answer is immediate, “It’s the people,” he told us.
“I’ve been so lucky to grow up in a town that’s so multicultural,” he says. “So many different ethnicities, so many different religions. And everybody gets on.”
He pauses before adding that this is simply his lived experience.
“I’ve never seen anybody get grief for the way they look or what they believe in. Of course, there’ll be people who have experienced that; unfortunately, that exists everywhere, but from my experience of Bedford, the community is amazing.”
He describes a town with a built-in sense of belonging.
“As soon as people know you’re from Bedford, there’s that sense of friends and family.”
For Grennan, that environment shaped him. It gave him perspective, and he says it grounded him. Bedford remains part of his identity, even as his career continues to expand.
One last summer for the big songs?
This summer’s Bedford Park show may also carry extra weight, and a bit, no, a lot of emotion.
Grennan is at what he calls “a big change” musically. He is experimenting in the studio, rediscovering guitars and live instruments, and considering a shift in direction.
“I’m definitely discovering the kind of sound I want to go down next,” he says. “Taking it back to the roots, back to guitars and live instruments and a band feel.”
But before that shift happens, he wants to give the current era its proper send-off.
“This summer is all about the songs that exist now,” he explains. “I don’t want them to be overlooked or forgotten about. I’ll probably play these songs for the last time before I start to make that shift.”
Leaving the past behind
That could mean that some of the big pop hits that have defined his rise might soon be retired from live shows.
“There are songs I wrote when I was 20 years old, they’re 10 years old now,” he says. “I know people love them, and I know people want to hear them. However, I don’t know if I’m able to sing them anymore in the same way.”
Those who know Tom’s music will know the deeply personal subjects he sings about. Is this decision about leaving the past in the past and moving on? “Yes, I suppose it is,” yeah” he says.
So what else might his Bedford Summer Sessions gig bring?
“I don’t think there’ll be any new ones. I’m keeping them close to my chest for the time being. Probably September, October time, and then we start a whole new phase.”
For now, he adds, it is about celebration.
“This summer is just going to be full of those big pop songs and the songs that almost everyone will know.”
And he adds there may be something big planned after the show, but he smiles when we ask for a hint as to what that might be.
“Bedford ain’t ready,” he laughs. “No hints.”
The “Remind Me” love letter
Ahead of his Summer Sessions headline slot, Bedford’s creative community produced a fan video set to his track Remind Me, featuring local venues, Bedfordians from all walks of life (including the team behind the Bedford Clanger and Bedford Independent), fans from all over and even his dad.
Read: Fans, venues and local heroes shine in Bedford’s “love letter” to Tom Grennan
Grennan has seen it and loves it.
“I saw it, man. I thought it was funny. Fair play to them,” he says. “I saw my dad in it, I thought, ‘What are you doing, mate?’”
Whether Remind Me is one of the songs that survives into the next chapter, he is still deciding.
“I’m not too sure what those songs are yet,” he says. “I’m still working it out.”
For now, though, one thing is certain, “Bedford boy’s coming home,” he says. “That’s it, that should be your headline.”
And for a town that has followed his journey from local stages to national charts, that is more than enough.
Tickets and full event details for Tom Grennan’s Bedford Summer Sessions gig and all others in the series are available at smmrsessions.com/locations/bedford.
Headline partially written by Tom Grennan
