Tom Hamilton has made a career of pushing rock n’ roll boundaries. Since 2000, Hamilton has fronted a cadre of bands, including Brothers Past, American Babies and Ghost Light. He also sings and plays lead guitar in the juggernaut contemporary Grateful Dead cover band, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.
It wasn’t until a series of personal and societal crises compelled the Philadelphia based
musician/songwriter/producer to reconsider his approach and finally forge ahead under his own name.
“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. Then my band broke up and my dad got sick. The only refuge I had was the studio.”
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.
“It takes effort to not just be jaded as we age — to not look at the world in a hardened way,” Hamilton says. “Yeah, it's a dark, dark fucking time, let's make some lemonade.”
His album I’m Your Vampire co-produced by Hamilton and Alex Farrar (MJ
Lenderman/Wednesday) is out now via AWAL/Relix.
