Today's episode features incredible guitarist and songwriter HAMISH ANDERSON from Melbourne, Australia. At 28 years old with two EP's and two albums to his credit, Hamish has been riding a wave of successful music-making and concert gigs, taking him around the world. The latest album 'Out Of My Head,' although released in May 2019, still had plenty of steam to propel his tour into the summer of 2020. Then came a worldwide pandemic, forcing most of our countries to go into isolation, and in turn forcing Hamish to cancel dates until who-knows-when. So we talked about that, along with a spotlight on the songs from 'Out Of My Head' and the most relevant single "World's Gone Mad." Please enjoy the insight and humor exhibited by this charismatic artist as we spend some time together talking music. Despite having the whole Pacific Ocean between our two worlds, technology allowed me the opportunity to virtually extend my hand in friendship. I hope you'll enjoy his bluesy rock-driven musical style as well.
Dean Olson
StrongWriter On the Radio
* Listen to Hamish Anderson's Interview with Dean! *
Featured Guest: HAMISH ANDERSON
Hamish Anderson: A student of the three Kings (Albert, BB and Freddie), Peter Green and Keith Richards with influences of Jeff Buckley and Tom Petty.
Named one of Total Guitar’s: Top 10 Best New Guitarists in 2018 two years after being named one of Yahoo! Music’s “Top Ten Best New Artist,” Australia’s roots rock artist, Hamish Anderson is teeing up his new album, Out of My Head, releasing in May 2019 on all formats.
In 2016, Hamish released his critically acclaimed debut album, Trouble produced by Grammy Winner Jim Scott ( the title track, Trouble, still appears on Spotify’s Official Blues & Roots Rock Playlist from April 2016). He supported the album with 11 performances at SXSW (2017); opened for BB King, Vintage Trouble, Drive By Truckers, Jared & The Mill, Low Cut Connie; and toured the US while appearing at US festivals such as BottleRock, Firefly, Echo Park Rising, Mountain Jam, High Sierra, Big Blues Bender, Summerfest, Telluride Blues & Brews Festival and Canada’s RBC Bluesfest Ottawa. He’s a Taco Bell “Feed the Beat” artist and was featured on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic with his single, “U”, which was profiled also on NPR Music’s Heavy Rotation along with the entire album, Trouble.
In January 2018, NPR profiled Hamish’s album — a year after it was released –on Here & Now/DJ Sessions via Anne Litt from KCRW. That summer, he released “No Good” the first single from his Out of My Head (which still appears on Nu-Blue Spotify Official Playlist), did a 3-week festival tour in Europe, performed at BottleRock Napa and toured the East Coast. He ended 2018 by opening for Doyle Bramhall II at a sold out show in LA. His single, “Breaking Down”, was released in November 2018 on All Things Go where they stated: “the young artist clearly knows the path from nostalgia to the future.”
While “Breaking Down” and “No Good” are superb examples of rollicking rock, they are just one of many genres that Hamish dips his toes into on the new album Out Of My Head. Americana, soul, pop, roots, blues, rock; that’s a lot of ground to cover, but Hamish does it with a natural ease that’s far beyond his years. The mellow (What You Do To Me, Damaged Goods) and the upbeat (No Good, You Give Me Something) tracks on this record sit comfortably next to each other; all buoyed by a knack for clever, hook-driven songwriting and a clear, burning passion that drives the music from the first strum to the last.
Hamish enthuses, “I really wanted to take my time and write as many songs as I could for this album. I wasn’t writing to a specific genre or sound, rather I let the songs reveal what they wanted to be… The album explore themes of alienation and defiance, mixed with unabashed love songs and even observations on what’s happening in the world around us. Certain songs had themes that I hadn’t explored in my writing previously. I feel I really went a lot deeper in the writing of these songs then I had ever done before. Most are universal feelings that I feel people can relate to. Once again, I got very lucky to work with a really great, talented group of people on Out Of My Head including producer Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Tedeschi Trucks, Wilco) who I had worked with on my debut album Trouble. Jim is an incredible producer/engineer and we work in a very similar way — it’s always an amazing experience working with him.”
He opened for Gary Clark Jr in April, 2019 in his home country of Australia and then returned to the US to appear at Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, TN in May and release his new album. He will be appearing at the Redondo Beach Music Series in July, Mont Tremblant Music Fest in Quebec, Canada in July and preparing for another tour of Europe in late September 2019.
Hamish’s second album, entitled Out of My Head, released May 2019.
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