Tom Hamilton Releases New Album 'I'm Your Vampire'
(BHM) Indie/Jam rocker Tom Hamilton is thrilled to release I'm Your Vampire (AWAL/Relix). I'm Your Vampire marks the singer/guitarist/songwriter's first project under his own name in a rich and prolific career fronting bands including Brothers Past, American Babies and Ghost Light.
Hamilton sings and plays lead guitar in Joe Russo's Almost Dead and Bill Kreutzmann's Billy & the Kids and is the host of the SiriusXM Grateful Dead Channel monthly radio show "Goin' Down The Road with Tom Hamilton."
The centerpiece of I'm Your Vampire is the single "Kissing With Your Eyes Closed," a liquid, piano-driven dance that feels equally refreshing and nostalgic, evoking the familiarity of 90s and 00s indie rock like Wilco and Broken Social Scene.
Says Hamilton: "Kissing With Our Eyes Closed" was the first completed song for the album, and acted as my north star as we progressed through writing the rest. The balancing of heavy and lovely sounds, and the dance of kink and romance in the lyrics all acted as a perfect bellwether for what we wrote next."
I'm Your Vampire, Hamilton's most personal effort yet, is a 10-song suite wreathed in tattered-flannel rock & roll that encapsulates Hamilton's salvation in isolation, as he sorts through the darkness to find a pinpoint of light.
The new album includes the previously released anthem "Don't Give Up On Me" and the wide open, twang-tinged road-tripper, "Walking Backwards."
It wasn't until a series of crises, both personal and societal, compelled the Philadelphia based musician/songwriter/producer to reconsider his approach and finally forge ahead under his own name.
"This is how I process the world. I live my life for a few years, and then whatever happens, I try to make art out of it," Hamilton says.
So, along with friend and collaborator Pete Tramo, Hamilton posted up in the studio for six months of grueling days to channel all that into music. The title came from a turn of phrase he'd jotted into his notes app - a step-up from the old days when his pockets were laden with paper scraps.
"When you're in a van on the road for 20 years, you live in your bubble, you think that your world is one way - and it's not. The pandemic break gave me the time to see that," Hamilton says. "Then my band broke up and my dad got sick. The only respite I had was the studio. It takes effort to not just be jaded as we age - to not look at the world in a hardened way. Yeah, it's a dark f***ing time, let's make some lemonade." Stream the album here
Hamilton and his band including bassist Taylor Shell (Turkuaz), keyboardist Tom McKee (Brothers Past) and drummer Nick Paternostro will spend much of the winter and spring on the road. All tour dates can be found below.
Tom Hamilton On Tour (More Dates To Be Announced Soon)
1/23 - Charleston Pour House - Charleston, SC
1/24 - Flat Iron - Greensboro, NC
1/25 - Elevation 27 - Virginia Beach, VA
1/27 - 5 Points Music Sanctuary - Roanoke, VA
1/28 - Richmond Music Hall - Richmond, VA
1/29 - XL Live - Harrisburg, PA
1/30 - Sultan Room - Brooklyn, NYC
1/31 - Wonder Bar - Asbury Park, NJ
2/4 - Portland House of Music - Portland, ME
2/5 - Pickle Barrel - Killington, VT
2/6 - Broad Brook Opera House - Broad Brook, CT
2/7 - Lark Hall - Albany, NY
3/17 - Winstons Beach Club - San Diego, CA
3/18 - The Wayfarer - Costa Mesa, CA
3/19 - The Venice West - Venice, CA
3/24 - Crystal Bay Club Casino - Crystal Bay, NV
3/27 - Hidden Hall - Seattle, WA
3/31 - The State Room - Salt Lake City, UT
4/2 - Aggie Theatre - Fort Collins, CO
4/3 - Cervantes Other Side - Denver, CO
4/4 - 10 Mile Music Hall - Frisco, CO
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