Jo Hamilton (musician)
Encyclopedia
Jo Hamilton is a British vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist currently based in Birmingham
, England. Her official debut album Gown was released in September 2009 by independent production company and label Poseidon to 4 star reviews in the UK from Mojo Magazine
, The Independent
and The Independent on Sunday. In December 2009 she released an EP of Christmas songs which BBC Radio 2
's Janice Long
put on her Album of the Week list for the week of 14 December. Nic Harcourt
at KCRW
Radio in Los Angeles chose Gown as one of his four picks for KCRW's 2010 Winter subscription drive. In 2010 Hamilton became the first musician in the world to work with an Airpiano.
. The first decade of her life was spent in the Scottish Highlands
, Between stints abroad, Jo attended Gordonstoun School
, near Elgin in Morayshire, Scotland, to which she was awarded a music scholarship aged 12. Jo went on to study viola at Napier University in Edinburgh
, and then won another scholarship to read viola performance at the Birmingham Conservatoire, in the city where she is currently based.
, Michelle Shocked
, and Colin Vearncombe (Black). She also contributed viola to Kirsty McGee
's first album, and was invited by Fairport Convention
founder (and discoverer of Nick Drake
) Ashley Hutchings
to sing lead vocals and play guitar and viola with first the Albion Band and then his new bands the Rainbow Chasers and The Lark Rise Band on several European tours.
' Sunday morning show. Upon its release Gown received 4 star reviews in the UK from Mojo, Rock n Reel, The Independent and The Independent on Sunday. Simmy Richman from the Independent on Sunday wrote of Gown: “In a world of La Roux
and Lady Gaga
, this is an unashamedly grown-up record that dares to step out of the boxes we have reserved for our female singer-songwriters". In January 2011 a Special Edition version of Gown was released featuring additional tracks, an expanded booklet and revised artwork.
in Notting Hill
. In December 2009 Hamilton appeared at the Union Chapel
, London, and then supported Scott Matthews at Birmingham Town Hall
. In January 2010 she performed an internet-only concert for fans followed in April 2010 by an intimate concert at the Slaughtered Lamb, London, which received a 4 star review from the Guardian's Caroline Sullivan, who called her 'a find'.
The first EPK film (now renamed 'Gown Film 1) was released as a teaser in December 2008, several months before Gown itself was released. It opens with a quote from Scott Matthews
, followed by a succession of footage shot herself in Slovenia, Italy, France and the UK while on tour, set to the song There It Is from Gown. The second half of the EPK is a live performance of the song Liathach, which was shot in a gatehouse in Birmingham, the home of artist and furniture designer Chris Eckersley. This features metal birdhouses made by Eckersley who after viewing the footage revealed that his inspiration for the birdhouses was in fact a video by 60s group The Byrds
which looked uncannily similar. Later in the song the footage cuts to another live performance shot in Teatro Circolo Fratellanza in Casnigo near Bergamo, Italy. The first EPK was later released as a limited edition on DVD, accompanied by animations by Jordan Cadby based on the Gown album sleeve.
The second EPK film (aka Gown Film 2) was released in September 2009. It features footage shot on tour in Scotland and Paris
as well as footage of Jo performing in Birmingham, in the studio and on the Janice Long
show on BBC Radio 2
. This is used as the backdrop to a series of press and radio quotes and is set to the songs How Beautiful and Think of Me from Gown.
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England. Her official debut album Gown was released in September 2009 by independent production company and label Poseidon to 4 star reviews in the UK from Mojo Magazine
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
and The Independent on Sunday. In December 2009 she released an EP of Christmas songs which BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
's Janice Long
Janice Long
Janice Long is an English radio broadcaster currently working on BBC Radio 2. Her show is on Sunday to Thursday nights from midnight to 02:00. She is the older sister of TV and radio personality Keith Chegwin.-Early career:...
put on her Album of the Week list for the week of 14 December. Nic Harcourt
Nic Harcourt
Nic Harcourt was, most recently, the Music Director for Santa Monica, California-based radio station KCRW. Before joining KCRW, Harcourt worked for eight years as a news director and music director at radio station WDST in Woodstock, New York...
at KCRW
KCRW
KCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, carrying a mix of National Public Radio news, talk radio and freeform music format. The general manager of KCRW is Jennifer Ferro...
Radio in Los Angeles chose Gown as one of his four picks for KCRW's 2010 Winter subscription drive. In 2010 Hamilton became the first musician in the world to work with an Airpiano.
Biography
Jo is the daughter of a Jamaican mother and Kenyan father, although both families trace their roots back to ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The first decade of her life was spent in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
, Between stints abroad, Jo attended Gordonstoun School
Gordonstoun
Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray in North East Scotland. Named after the estate originally owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 1600s, the school now uses this estate as its campus...
, near Elgin in Morayshire, Scotland, to which she was awarded a music scholarship aged 12. Jo went on to study viola at Napier University in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, and then won another scholarship to read viola performance at the Birmingham Conservatoire, in the city where she is currently based.
Music career
Jo Hamilton has supported Damien RiceDamien Rice
Damien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....
, Michelle Shocked
Michelle Shocked
Michelle Shocked is the stage name of Michelle Karen Johnston, an American singer-songwriter.-History:Shocked received her first international exposure in Europe, particularly Britain, with her debut album The Texas Campfire Tapes .Her first U.S...
, and Colin Vearncombe (Black). She also contributed viola to Kirsty McGee
Kirsty McGee
Kirsty McGee is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who started performing on the Manchester band scene when she was fourteen but then moved onto the acoustic music scene where she built herself a reputation with well-crafted original songs...
's first album, and was invited by Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
founder (and discoverer of Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
) Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Stephen Hutchings is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founder member of three of the most noteworthy English folk-rock bands in the history of the genre; Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band...
to sing lead vocals and play guitar and viola with first the Albion Band and then his new bands the Rainbow Chasers and The Lark Rise Band on several European tours.
Gown
Jo's first officially released album, Gown, got UK distribution in September 2009. In July 2009, in the lead up to this release, she was featured artist twice on BBC Radio 2 in the same week, performing a session on Janice Long's show and featuring on Aled JonesAled Jones
Aled Jones is a Welsh singer and television/radio personality, broadcaster and television presenter who first came to fame as a treble...
' Sunday morning show. Upon its release Gown received 4 star reviews in the UK from Mojo, Rock n Reel, The Independent and The Independent on Sunday. Simmy Richman from the Independent on Sunday wrote of Gown: “In a world of La Roux
La Roux
La Roux are an English electropop duo made up of singer, keyboardist, co-writer and co-producer Eleanor Kate Jackson, and co-writer and co-producer Ben Langmaid. Jackson describes their relationship as "very much a half and half sharing situation... not like a singer producer outfit", but also...
and Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
, this is an unashamedly grown-up record that dares to step out of the boxes we have reserved for our female singer-songwriters". In January 2011 a Special Edition version of Gown was released featuring additional tracks, an expanded booklet and revised artwork.
Live work
The first launch concert for Gown was held on April 20, 2009 at the Glee Club, Birmingham, to mark the early fulfillment of pre-orders of Gown to her fanbase. A London launch was held in September 2009 at The TabernacleThe Tabernacle, Notting Hill
The Tabernacle in Notting Hill was built in 1887, it is a Grade II listed building. It has a Curved Romanesque facade of red brick and terracotta, towers with broach spires...
in Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
. In December 2009 Hamilton appeared at the Union Chapel
Union Chapel, Islington
The Union Chapel is a Grade II* listed church and music venue in Islington, North London, England, located on Compton Terrace.An example of Victorian gothic architecture, it was designed by James Cubitt, and constructed between 1874 and 1877, with further additions 1877-90, providing an ambitious...
, London, and then supported Scott Matthews at Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall is a Grade I listed concert and meeting venue in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It was created as a home for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival established in 1784, the purpose of which was to raise funds for the General Hospital, after St Philip's Church became...
. In January 2010 she performed an internet-only concert for fans followed in April 2010 by an intimate concert at the Slaughtered Lamb, London, which received a 4 star review from the Guardian's Caroline Sullivan, who called her 'a find'.
Work with the Airpiano
In April 2010 Jo revealed she was the first artist in the world to be working with a prototype Airpiano, a non-contact electronic instrument being developed by Berlin-based inventor Omer Yosha. Jo had been looking for a way to recreate some of the intricate textures from Gown live without resorting to backing tracks, and had stumbled upon Yosha demonstrating a very early version on Youtube. She travelled to Berlin to meet Yosha and collect a prototype instrument from him which he'd made specially for her for her to experiment with it and give feedback to Yosha. The result was a short film entitled 'A New Instrument' about Hamiton's trip to Berlin and her resultant work with the instrument. The film received over 30,000 views on Youtube in the first three weeks, and was eventually syndicated by over 200 technology and music websites worldwide. In September 2010 Jo appeared live with the Airpiano at the Apple Store on Regent Street in London, assisted by Gown producer Jon Cotton and bassplayer Chaz West, to demonstrate and talk about her work with the instrument.Films
As well as the Airpiano film 'A New Instrument', Hamilton has created a series of films to accompany Gown. These serve as both EPKs (electronic press kits) for industry use, and as visual extensions of Gown in their own right.The first EPK film (now renamed 'Gown Film 1) was released as a teaser in December 2008, several months before Gown itself was released. It opens with a quote from Scott Matthews
Scott Matthews
Scott Matthews , is a singer/songwriter from Wolverhampton, England.His first album Passing Stranger was released on 13 March 2006 on San Remo Records before being re-released on Island Records later in the year. Janice Long was the first of the BBC DJs to play his music...
, followed by a succession of footage shot herself in Slovenia, Italy, France and the UK while on tour, set to the song There It Is from Gown. The second half of the EPK is a live performance of the song Liathach, which was shot in a gatehouse in Birmingham, the home of artist and furniture designer Chris Eckersley. This features metal birdhouses made by Eckersley who after viewing the footage revealed that his inspiration for the birdhouses was in fact a video by 60s group The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
which looked uncannily similar. Later in the song the footage cuts to another live performance shot in Teatro Circolo Fratellanza in Casnigo near Bergamo, Italy. The first EPK was later released as a limited edition on DVD, accompanied by animations by Jordan Cadby based on the Gown album sleeve.
The second EPK film (aka Gown Film 2) was released in September 2009. It features footage shot on tour in Scotland and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
as well as footage of Jo performing in Birmingham, in the studio and on the Janice Long
Janice Long
Janice Long is an English radio broadcaster currently working on BBC Radio 2. Her show is on Sunday to Thursday nights from midnight to 02:00. She is the older sister of TV and radio personality Keith Chegwin.-Early career:...
show on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
. This is used as the backdrop to a series of press and radio quotes and is set to the songs How Beautiful and Think of Me from Gown.
Discography
- December 2000 - Palace Place (unreleased CD album of early demos)
- December 2008 - Gown EPK 1 (DVD release, limited edition)
- April 2009 - Winter is Over (download-only single)
- September 2009 - Gown album (download and CD Digipak)
- September 2009 - PIck Me Up (download and CD single)
- December 2010 - Gown special edition (iTunes-only download)
- January 2011 - Gown : special edition album (download and CD Digipak)