James Blunt is no stranger to southern Alberta.

Before making Back to Bedlam, he lived outside Medicine Hat for six months during a stint in the British army. He recalls the time as fun, adding, "but bear in mind I had been sleeping outside on the Prairies with the northern lights, wolves and moose running past. So then when you can find a bar or restaurant in Medicine Hat, it can seem like a pretty magical place."

Blunt even visited Calgary then. "I've been out here before -- actually a couple times. I think we went to a place called Cowboys," he says, laughing during an interview before his concert at the 'Dome last night.

And he acknowledges Canada is one of the places "it all started out" for him when he embarked on his musical career. "This is where I've had the most support."

And while Blunt enjoys the trappings of fame, he'd prefer it if his private life wasn't so public. "I sell music. I don't sell my private life, but yet there seems to be an obsession with it," he says, possibly alluding to the attention surrounding his supposed break-up with model Petra Nemcova. "The content is not true. It's not relevant and it's made up by creative journalists. But that's the world in which we live."

And one he can't ignore. He confesses to Google-ing himself to track the gossip. "I do, but only on the basis that it's to find out what on earth is being written about me. It's kind of interesting to follow it."