Coming off of a slew of highly-acclaimed 2014 shows with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD), including a two night New Years run with Phil Lesh at Port Chester, NY’s historic Capitol Theatre, Tom Hamilton will return to New York City on February 27 with his American Babies at The Cutting Room to honor some of the icons of modern Americana – Arcade Fire, Ryan Adams, My Morning Jacket and more.
The Babies have been Hamilton’s main vehicle since 2007, and one he feels quite strongly about. He says in an interview with L4LM’s Chris Meyer, “You can feel this thing finally coming into our own, and the vision of it is more clear than it ever was.” In regards to upcoming show, he explains, “You have to dig in and make sure that you honor the music the right way. You have to make sure you have the swagger with the music, and can handle the vocals properly. It’s like, if you are going to cover Led Zeppelin, you better get those fucking vocals down, unless you are going to go the Bustle (In Your Hedgerow) route and just say, “’Fuck It!’ and not even sing the lyrics at all [laughs].”
Hamilton has the special gift of being able to cross genres and play anything for the proper occasion. In preparation for what will undoubtedly be a great celebration of a genre, here is a list of 10 great Tom Hamilton projects and collaborations:
1. The American Babies’ 2013 album Knives and Teeth is a great synthesis of Tom Hamilton’s sensibilities as a musician and as a song writer. The album wades in between gritty, ballsy rock and roll, trance and electronic, and even some country-western. Here is a great showcase of the Babies, performing “Fire Sale > When I Build My Fortune” at a studio recording for Woodstock 100.1.
2. Before there were the American Babies, Hamilton had Brothers Past, an electronic-rock outfit formed in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA. Molded much from the same earth as fellow Philly natives The Disco Biscuits, Hamilton honed his jamming skills early on in BP. Despite turning his recent efforts to projects like the American Babies and JRAD, Brothers Past has gotten together for a handful of shows, though they are sparse. Here is a raging version of “One Rabbit Race” from Hillsdale, NY’s The Big Up Festival in 2013.
3. Speaking of fellow Philly brethren, check out Hamilton alongside Disco Biscuits’ keyboard player Aron Magner at last year’s Catskill Chill Music Festival in Hancock, NY. The two got together for an afternoon of stripped down tunes including this “Franklin’s Tower.” Both Hamilton and Manger have had the Grateful Dead bug as of late, with Hamilton assuming responsibilities in JRAD, and Magner providing his stylings to Bill Kreutzmann’s Billy & The Kids. The two even got to share the stage together at 2014’s Lockn’ Festival in Arrington, VA with Kreutzmann’s Locknstep Allstars for a few tunes…
4. Cue the Locknstep Allstars. This last-minute addition at 2014’s Lockn’ Festival was a very pleasant surprise, especially since they were taking the place of an ailing Bob Weir on the festival bill. The set was built around Kreutzmann and featured a parade of incredible musicians throughout the night including Hamilton, Magner, Steve Kimock, Oteil Burbridge, Keller Williams, Taj Mahal, Michael Travis, Jason Hann, and Papa Mali. Luckily, the entire set is available for your viewing pleasure below.
5. As far as Hamilton tapping into jamtronica goes these days, he has a home with Electron. The band is a bit of a super group, comprised of Hamilton on guitar, the Disco Biscuits’ Aron Magner on keyboards and Marc Brownstein on bass, with Lotus’ Mike Greenfield on drums. This tandem seems to gather more steam as time goes on and is definitely a force to be reckon with. Check out this sandwich combo of the Biscuit’s “Little Lai” with Pink Floyd‘s “Another Brick In The Wall.”
6. Coming off of their first two performances ever at the Brooklyn Bowl, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead were already in high demand. After a year of playing shows primarily in New York City, JRAD started to stretch it’s legs a bit. JRAD – Joe Russo (drums), Marco Benevento (keyboards), Scott Metzger (guitar), Dave Dreiwitz (bass), and Hamilton – would make their first festival appearance appropriately enough at The Gathering Of The Vibes in the summer of 2014. Check out this scorching hot version of the Dead’s “St. Stephen” with Hamilton leading on vocals.
7. The American Babies are no strangers to festival gigs either. Here they are performing at Camp Barefoot in Bartow, WV last year. The show features AB originals “Blue Skies,” “Old Fashioned,” “Joeline,” as well covers of the Grateful Dead’s “Scarlet Begonias” and Bob Dylan‘s “Tangled Up In Blue.”
8. From their seminal performance at the Brooklyn Bowl, here is Tom Hamilton leading JRAD through the Dead’s “Brown Eyed Women.” Needless to say, the crowd was really responding to what they were putting down that night.
9. Early formulations of the American Babies got aid from eventual JRAD bandmates Joe Russo and Scott Metzger from time to time, like in this absolutely contagious rendition of “Invite Your Friends” from their 2011 self-entitled album American Babies at Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live.
10. The final featured video comes from Electron at a show at Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT (10/16/14). From the amount of shows Electron has been playing as of late, one could definitely see more Grateful Dead tunes infiltrate the setlist like in this “Confrontation > Feel Like A Stranger” combination.