How come people like Ed Sheeran, Passenger and James Blunt are so successful? They seem to skyrocket to the top without any effort. The real story probably is somewhat different: lots of sweat, hard work and, of course, talent.

The future will tell if Milo Meskens will be able to establish a career that’s similar to the ones of the names mentioned above. His first solo single, “Here With Me”, came as a surprise to many people, and only needed a few weeks to conquer the number 1 position in Belgium’s most popular listener’s chart, De Afrekening at Studio Brussel.

It starts as a fragile folk ballad and evolves slowly and in a very natural way into a Snow Patrolesque climax. One could hardly say that this is an original song, but who cares if it’s as good as this one?

Milo Meskens has been paving the way for years, playing in several bands, and also participating in every imaginable contest as a solo artist. Failures never discouraged the guy, or if they did, at least they didn’t stop him from keeping on trying over and over again.

Just over a year ago, I witnessed him telling at a concert, in front of an audience of only 20 people, that the venue in his hometown did not want to book him, no matter how hard he did his best to convince them. I’m sure they’ll regret it by now!

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Milo Meskens on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.