Dirk Hamilton - solo mono

Indiana born, California raised and now resident in Texas, Dirk Hamilton is one of the world’s great songwriter poets.

A professional musician since the age of 15, Dirk played with a number of local Sacramento bands and was a regular in the San Francisco bay area club scene before moving to Los Angeles in the mid-70s.

Having heard a few demo tracks, Gary Katz (producer of all Steely Dan’s albums up and including ‘Gaucho’) instantly decided to produce Dirk’s first album ‘You can sing on the left or bark on the right’

Critically acclaimed, with a unique writing and singing style, compared to Dylan and Van Morrison, a powerful new songwriter had emerged on the music scene.

‘Alias i’, a second album for ABC, saw a rising star continuing to share his left field view of the world, at once tender, cynical and funny.

After ABC folded, Dirk moved to Elektra Asylum for his 2 masterpieces ‘Meet Me at the Crux’ (heralded by Rolling Stone as one of the essential albums of the 70s) and ‘Thug of Love’. It was only a matter of time until Dirk Hamilton would be established in the canon of rock’s revered singer/songwriters. But it wasn’t to happen.

During a tour supporting Warren Zevon, loose talk about Zevon’s stage act from members of Dirk’s band got back to Zevon, who then had Hamilton’s band thrown off the tour. Following this, Dirk was dropped by Elektra.

Never being one to enjoy the business side of playing music, losing industry support at this key time in his ascent through the big leagues led Dirk to decide he didn’t have the stomach to play the industry game anymore. He turned his back on music entirely and didn’t sing, play or write a word for about 4 years, one of which was spent sitting in The Shamrock, a bar in Stockton, California and 3 of which he worked as a counselor for troubled teens. Mid-way through Dirk’s counselor years he began playing in a cover band and soon he found that new songs were coming to him and he started writing again. In 1986 the Stockton version of The Dirk Hamilton Band was formed and they played up and down the California coast until the late 80s, when Dirk discovered he had a devoted fan base in Italy and the last 20-plus years have been split between Italian tours, US shows and recording albums, which now total 16.

Dirk Hamilton grows more powerful as a songwriter and performer of engaging, offbeat, literate songs

May 12th in Topanga Canyon saw the release party for of his first solo album.

For the first time, after a long lifetime of making albums, Dirk Hamilton appears solo on a studio record.

‘solo mono’ features only his guitar and voice and is a masterpiece.

You will not easily find such passionate, witty, angry, funny, heartbreaking writing in music today.

‘solo mono’ is available as a cd and as a digital download on bandcamp.

Below is a live performance of 'Where are all the Rebels?' from 'solo mono' and some YouTube highlights of songs from previous albums:

http://youtu.be/nro9grY1_qA

Rich Man Blues (preceeded by interview)

999songs

Go and have a look at another website of mine, where I've posted about some music I like and added links to some of my own vocal performance.

http://999songs.com

Katell Keineg - High July

'High July' is a great album, by one of the world's greatest and most original musicians. Hear everything recorded by Katell Keineg, because she seems incapable of recording music that is not tinged with genius.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/high-july/id206516734

The Downer Party - Country Kids

I love this song. I heard 'Country Kids' by the Downer Party via mySpoonful, my favourite source of new music.

http://myspoonful.com/the-downer-party

The Spinshots - Pride Before Fall

I just downloaded 'Pride Before Fall' from the Spinshots website and am now listening to it for the fifth time. I can't wait to hear the album that's coming out in September. This song really does sound like summer has come and it makes me smile and it makes me want to dance.

Paul Simon - the Roundhouse - 01-07-2011

We saw Paul Simon at the Roundhouse tonight. He played a great cover of Jimmy Cliff's 'Vietnam' followed immediately by 'Mother and Child Reunion' - a song it was thrilling and moving to hear live.

The Mynabirds - What we lost in the fire we gain in the flood

This is a great album. I fell in love with ' numbers don't lie' the first time I heard it and bought the album 'What we lose in the fire we gain in the flood' as a consequence. I listened to the CD for the first time this afternoon...And then I listened to it again...and again after that. This is an album that has become an instant favourite and one to which I will always listen.