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HAMISH ANDERSON ‘ELECTRIC’ ALBUM INTERVIEW

pic by Jason Rosewarne

Australian singer, songwriter, guitarist, Hamish Anderson commanded the attention of the blues and rock world with his 2016 debut Trouble and built upon that with his 2019 follow-up album Out of My Head  (which scored an Independent Music Award for “Best Blues Album”). Both releases saw Anderson team up with Grammy winning producer Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Tedeschi Trucks Band) and blended the traditional language of the blues with his own heartfelt compositions and classic rock stylings. Drawing equally from blues, rock & roll and soul, Anderson solidified a worldwide presence touring and performing opening sets with artists such as Gary Clark Jr, George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Stephen Stills, Doyle Bramhall II, Los Lobos and a coveted slot as the opener on B. B. King’s final tour. His relentless gigging schedule also saw him performing at festivals including BottleRock, Mountain Jam, Summerfest, Telluride Blues & Brews Festival and more.

Now in October 2024, Hamish Anderson has released  ‘Electric,  his third album and most accomplished work to date. With his classic rock tones, Hamish is not afraid to offer nods and winks to his guitar heroes, yet still delivers a modern edge to his own unique brand of music. With ‘Electric’ you get the heart and soul of a guy who loves what he does and the result is an inviting slice of rockin’ blues that permeates your mind as much as it moves yer shoes.

Prior to the release of ‘Electric’, Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips sat down with Hamish Anderson over a cup of zoom to discuss the creation of his new album and more.

 

MORE ABOUT HAMISH ANDERSON’S ELECTRIC
Throughout 2023 Anderson toured the US as support for both Gary Clark Jr and George Thorogood & The Destroyers not only as an opening act but joining both artists as a special guest night on their encores. He also completed recording on his third album. The result is Electric, his first new album in five years. Aptly named, Anderson describes his latest release as a “Love Letter to the Electric Guitar.” 

Electric is Anderson’s most complete and mature artistic statement to date. He says that the time spent in pre-production allowed him to distill his sound to what he feels are his best elements and not shy away from giving the electric guitar a prominent voice. And while previous efforts often found him working with session musicians and entrusting the production to someone else, Electric was cut mostly live as a trio with his touring band (bassist Lauren Stockner and drummer Pete Marin) with appearances by Jessy Green on strings (Foo Fighters) and Jerry Borge on keys (Jonathan Wilson, Ziggy Marley) and finds him sharing production duties with David Davis (The War On Drugs Lauren Ruth Ward, Miguel). The result is a stellar high-energy album with a clear and unified vision that catches the energetic raw band vibe of ’70s blues rock but updates it with modernized sounds and forward-thinking arrangements across eleven original songs and one cover song.

Sonic gems like “You’re Mine” and “Late in the Evening” show Anderson expressing his unique voice as a writer while also paying fuzzed-out homage to the understated blues rock licks of The Faces, T-Rex, and Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac. The buoyant and catchy “Stir Crazy” finds him grooving in the vein of early ’80s ZZ Top, while the slow smoldering “Brighter Days” suggests a hip remodeling of a classic Curtis Mayfield- or Al Green-styled ballad. On “Pale Moonlight Interlude/Steal Away” Anderson showcases his lyrical and sublime Clapton-esque lead guitar chops, while the raw and driving swamp rock cover of “It Ain’t Easy” sounds like it could easily be a lost track from Exile on Main Street. The cathartic “Strangers” takes a swaying Dylan-inspired break-up lament and kicks it into high gear with an extended instrumental ride-out that captures the band firing on all cylinders; Electric’s penultimate moment, it gives way to the hauntingly beautiful album closer “Sweet Dreams.”

https://www.hamishandersonmusic.com/

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