Brighton date as Claire Hamill marks 55th anniversary of debut album
Claire Hamill celebrates the 55th anniversary of her debut album plus the release of her new album at a series of special gigs.
On Thursday, April 23 she will be at The Brunswick, Cellar Bar, 1 Holland Road, Brighton (https://www.brunswickpub.co.uk/event-details/claire-hamill-band) and then she will be playing a hometown gig on Saturday, April 25 at The Piper, 1 Norman Road, St Leonards, TN37 6NH (https://link.dice.fm/C3ad3768ad25).
Originally from Middlesbrough, Claire, who has lived in St Leonards since 1995, made her debut at the age of just 17 with the album One House Left Standing (1971), quickly earning comparisons with Joni Mitchell while also forging a deeply individual artistic voice.
“I was at a convent school in Middlesbrough and I left during the Easter holiday”, she recalls. “I just waved goodbye and I went down to London. I had a recording contract with Island Records and I wanted to start recording. That was 1971, and London was hugely scruffy in those days. It didn't really start getting smarter until the National Lottery came along and lots of municipal buildings were prettified.
“But for me it was mind-blowing. I'd been to London once before when I was 12. I was part of a peace movement and I was even writing songs when I was 12. The local peace movement decided to take me to Italy to perform on stage in front of all these people gathering from around the world committed to peace. It was very exciting!”
A few years later came that debut: “And I think I will always hang onto a piece of that 17-year-old self that I was. And I think that piece is the piece that still believes that the world is benign and loving and that people are decent and that temptation does exist but that it's very human to be tempted. But I still believe in a good society, as I did then.
“For the first album I was taken into the studio and I just played the songs on my own or with a guitarist or a keyboard player. I put down the initial tracks, and to hear my voice coming through the big speakers was just phenomenal. It was an amazing experience to be working with such talented musicians.
“My songs were my compositions or joint compositions. I had an older boyfriend who was a very talented poet and artist. He provided the more meaningful, adult, deep lyrics. Mine were a bit winsome and young but I had a talent for turning his poetry into songs and I think it's that that got me the deal. I think the album still stands up as a quality album from the point of view of the musicianship. I do think I was writing meaningful songs. I wasn't writing trite songs.”
Now comes the new album released on the day of the St Leonards gig, The House Among The Trees: “There are lots of themes on there. As a song-writer, I don't necessarily go for complete concept albums. Generally the songs come to me. They come out of me and they have their own life. The opening song is about the passage of time and how we must use our time properly because there is so little. I'm now thinking that my time is the most precious resource that I have. The song Don't Go Home Without Me is a love song. The song Your Name Is In The Wind is another love song. There are a lot of different themes on the album.”