Hamish Anderson is an Australian
blues rock guitarist, songwriter and singer.[1][2] He has shared the stage with
B.B. King.[3] He has released two EPs. His debut album Trouble was released on 21 October 2016. He was the last person to open a show for
B.B. King before he died.[4][5][6] In December 2016, Hamish was named as one of the 10 Best New Artists of 2016 by Yahoo! Music.[7]
Early life
Hamish Anderson was born in 1991 and grew up in Melbourne, Australia.[8] He started learning guitar at the age of 12. At the age of 17, he started singing and songwriting.[9] Anderson left his home town in Melbourne in 2014 to further his musical career in America.[10]
Career
Anderson is a blues rock guitarist-singer-songwriter.[8] In April 2013 he released a debut single, "Howl", which was taken from his self-titled extended play.[8] The five-track EP was recorded at BJB Studio in Sydney with
Eric J. Dubowsky (Art vs. Science, Weezer, Bluejuice) producing.[8] "Howl" featured
Rami Jaffee of the
Foo Fighters.[11] It was described as "encompasses a mix of blues, rock and folk with moments of loud, electric blues-soaked chords as well as delicate acoustic balladry, Hamish comes armed with a host of noteworthy tunes and a songwriting and vocal maturity well beyond his twenty-one years."[8] The EP was released in November 2013. Anderson was the last artist to open for the late
B.B. King.[12]
In 2015, he received an award for Best Blues Song by the Independent Music Awards for his single "Burn" and was profiled in Huffington Post 'Beyond the Six Strings' as well as The Blues Magazine UK for their Future of Blues Music issue.[17]
His debut album, Trouble, was produced by
Grammy Award-winning producer/mixer
Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Tedeschi Trucks, Ryan Bingham, Wilco, Grace Potter),[18] and features
Steve Berlin from Los Lobos on
baritone sax; Johnny Radelat (Gary Clark Jr), Freddie Bokkenheuser (Ryan Adams), and Aaron Sterling (John Mayer) on drums; Chris Bruce (Seal, Meshell Ndegeocello) and Rob Calder (Angus & Julia Stone, Kanye) on bass; Chris Joyner (Ryan Bingham) and Jerry Borge (Jonathan Wilson) on keys.[19][20]
Legendary guitarist
Gary Clark Jr. has cited Hamish Anderson the young act under 30 to watch out for.[21][22] The first single from that album, also titled Trouble, has received more than 1500 spins on major market AAA radio across the nation since its release on 15 April. It was featured on Spotify’s official "Blues & Roots Rock" playlist. The official video had an exclusive premiere on
Relix.com. Hamish’s second single, Hold On Me was released 16 September and the debut album, Trouble, released 21 October.[23][24]
In 2017, Hamish was also added to
Taco Bell's Feed the Beat Roster.[36] In November, "U" was named one of the Top 5 tracks of the week on
KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic and a "Best of Week" on
Apple Music Australia & Japan,[37] and was also profiled on
NPR Music’s "Heavy Rotation".[38][39]
On 20 July 2018, Anderson released "No Good2", a single from his upcoming second studio album, Out Of My Head, with Relix.[40] The official music video premiered on Billboard[41]
In April 2019, Anderson toured Australia opening for
Gary Clark Jr.[42] where he joined Gary on stage every night for the encore.[43] This was in support of Anderson's full length album release, Out Of My Head, on 3 May 2019.[44] On 5 May, Anderson performed at the Beale Street Music Festival.[45] Shortly after, he released an official music video for Breaking Down (30 May 2019)[46] and performed on DittyTV, which aired on 9 June.[47] Later in the year, Anderson opened for
The Shelters at Moroccan Lounge,[48] was a featured artist on a
YouTube Live Fender Play video[49] teaching the guitar stylings of
The Who, and released a video for his single, What You Do To Me.[50] Anderson spent the fall of 2019 headlining his first tour of Europe[51] and closed out the year with a live performance of 3 songs off of Out Of My Head and an interview on
KCSN.[52]
Other notable 2019 milestones includes No Good being added to the Got Blues[53]Spotify playlist, and What You Do To Me and You Give Me Something being added to the Nu-Blue[54]Spotify playlist. The title-track off of his previous album, Trouble, hit 1,000,000
Spotify plays[55]
In 2020, Out of My Head was awarded an Independent Music Award for Best Album - Blues.[56]
Anderson recorded an acoustic version of his single "Morning Light" for
Acoustic Guitar magazine's Acoustic Guitar Sessions in Place series.[57]