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Hamilton Loomis: HamiltonLoomis.jpg
Galveston-born Hamilton Loomis grew up in a musical family -- his mother is a singer, his father plays bass -- that encouraged him to join the family trade.
Hamilton Loomis -- guitar
Danny Beltran -- bass
Vince Palumbo -- saxophone
Greg Benavides -- drums
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You Got to Wait
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Legendary
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Track #1
Hamilton, 1994
Just Gimme One Night, 1996
All Fired Up, 1999
Highlights, 2002
Kickin' It, 2003
Ain't Just Temporary, 2007
Visit any country or blues festival around the country and you'll likely find at least one guitar, harmonica or accordion wunderkind ripping through impossible licks.
It's always amazing, sometimes cute, but you have to wonder where those kids end up, if they still like music after being introduced to performing it at such a young age.
Galveston-born Hamilton Loomis grew up in a musical family - his mother is a singer, his father plays bass - that encouraged him to join the family trade. His grandfather gave him a drum set when he was 4. He became part of the family doo-wop band in his early teens. He spent weekends in Houston jamming with Joe ``Guitar'' Hughes and Johnny ``Clyde'' Copeland. He performed onstage with Bo Diddley at age 16 and was leading his own 6-piece cover band by 17.
Now in his early 30s, Loomis still digs it.
``I was probably about 20 when I started writing my own songs,'' says Loomis. ``I was a player and performer first and a writer tenth. It wasn't something that I took to, and it's still hard, but I've been developing my songwriting because that's the key to being an artist. You can do other people's music all day long, but a jukebox can do the same thing. I have to tell my own stories."
The multi-instrumentalist and singer keeps to a fairly strict, all-original policy at his shows. When people request B.B. King, he refers them to the original recordings because "I'll never do a B.B. King song as well as B.B. King did."
In 2002, Loomis signed to Blind Pig Records, a respected blues label, after one of the label owners saw him perform in California. He has since recorded two albums for the label: 2003's Kickin' It and Ain't Just Temporary, featuring a collaboration with Bo Diddley, released earlier this year.
"The bad thing about being on a blues label is that you're pigeonholed into that category, and most stores don't have a blues section, so they just don't carry your music. The good thing is that there's a large network of blues societies, venues, festivals, promoters and fans all around the world. So we can stay working."
It's not every day that you come across a successful, Houston-based, blues-rock-funk-groove-soul band playing original tunes - which also includes bassist Danny Beltran, Vince Palumbo on saxophone and Greg Benavides on drums. But Loomis has been doing this for years, and his talent and passion are undeniable, resulting in strings of four-hour gigs in the Houston area every month, blues festivals all over the country, tours to Europe, and his first tour to Australia is coming up in November.
"My van has 450,000 miles on it. I've gotten to see the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite; we've had real hot dogs in Chicago, real cheese steaks in Philadelphia, real pizza in New York."
Years and miles have brought Loomis to a more mature place as a performer; less playing around, more playing. "I've made the show less about doing 10-minute guitar solos; the song is more important. I still go out in the crowd and play on tables, but I don't do it as much. First time I went over to England, I jumped off a balcony during my show and the reviewers remembered the acrobatics and not so much the music. I don't want to be remembered as the guy who jumped off a balcony."
He would rather be remembered as one of the young guys trying to keep blues in the mainstream, making it relevant to audiences closer to his own age. It makes the nonstop touring, the bad road food, the hustle that comes with promoting one's self tirelessly, playing for hours on end, all worth the effort.
"Touring isn't glamorous, but it's how I pay my mortgage," he says. "The rewards are the few hours that we're on stage and people are smiling or singing along, or when people request a song that I wrote: That recharges me."
-- Sara Cress | September 6, 2007
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