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'Probably the best singer you've never heard”MOJO Magazine
Critically acclaimed British singer-songwriter Claire Hamill has joined forces with drummer Sonny Flint
and has hand-picked some great musicians to record an album with original songs written by Claire for
release in summer 2025.
They are now ready to take their band on the road to showcase the new material, and to play songs
from Claire’s vast back catalogue.
Originally from Middlesborough, Claire got her first record contract with Island in 1971, when she was
just 17 years old, and headed off to London to pursue a career in music.
She recorded two albums for Island, ‘One House left Standing’ (1971) and ‘October’ (1972), and then
toured the USA and Europe promoting them and appeared on 'The Old Grey Whistle Test', before
leaving to join the Kinks’ label, Konk.
Ray Davies produced her third album, ‘Stage Door Johnnies’ (1974), with Claire returning to the U.S. to
promote the album, and then bringing back her American band to record her next album for Konk,
Abracadabra (1975), which she produced herself at the age of 21.
While critics loved her, chart success eluded her, but this brought with it the freedom to plow her own
furrow, experimenting and exploring her own musical worlds and leading to collaborations with other
bands and musicians, who recognised her huge talent and appreciated her musical ideas.
One of the bands she worked with was Wishbone Ash - initially brought in as a backing singer, she
ended up co-writing one of their most atmospheric rock anthems, 'Living Proof' together with guitarist
Laurie Wisefield. The song remains a firm crowd favourite to this day. She also joined Wishbone Ash
on one of their American tours.
She also worked with Steve Howe on his second solo album in 1979, with Vangelis in 1981, and with
the Jazz Fusion band Morrisey-Mullen in 1982 to name a few others.
By the mid-80s she was ready with her next album, ‘Touchpaper’(1984), a transitional recording,
exploring the world of synthesisers.
Claire then relocated to East Sussex, and recorded her most successful album to date - ‘Voices' (1986).
The album was considered groundbreaking and garnered critical acclaim as well as a no.1 spot in the
NEW AGE charts. The BBC used the music in their popular history series 'The Domesday Book.
Inspired by the beautiful Sussex countryside, she released another transitional album, but one which
brought her back to more traditional song writing styles, ’Love in the Afternoon’ (1988).
Both this and the Voices album were used extensively by Channel 4 for a series of music videos
collectively titled The Art of Landscape and shown every morning in the early 1990s.
It would seem that Claire had now found her niche, a songwriter who blended an English rock anthem
style with a pastoral, dreamy, New Age sensitivity.
While music remained a constant, she took a recording break to bring up her daughters and re-entered
the stage in 1997, embarking on another musical journey, which lead her into electro pop and the album
‘Summer’ with Andrew Warren.
Next Claire released her back catalogue through ‘Voiceprint Records’, before learning in 2004 that Eva
Cassidy had covered and recorded ‘You Take My Breath Away’ from Stage Door Johnnies.
Suddenly Claire’s career was revived again and she went on to release ‘The Lost and the
Lovers’ (2004) before signing with Esoteric to release her first compilation, ‘The Minor Fall the Major
Lift.’ (2007).
She toured with John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest as support in 2009.
Since 2012 Claire has been steadily releasing albums of original material, ‘The Meeting of
Waters’ (2012), ‘When Daylight Arrives’ (2015), ‘Over Dark Apples’ (2019), ‘A Pocket Full of Love Songs’
(2022).
Claire’s also been a member of the Yes tribute band ‘Fragile’ as lead vocalist, releasing the album
‘Beyond’ in 2021. A bit tongue in cheek PROG Magazine described Claire as being ’50% PROG’ in an
article about her, referencing her varied musical journey as well as collaborations with Wishbone Ash
and Steve Howe.
She’d be the first to admit that making a living on the fringe of the music world has been very precarious
at times but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
‘My songs are crafted in the hurly burly of life, I roll with the seasons like you do, I occasionally rise to
the triumphal summit like you do and I deal with the hardships that come along from time to time, just
like you do. I still have songs inside me yearning to come out, I hope you’ll find them relevant.’
Drummer Sonny Flint first met Claire while he was drumming for Martin Turner - ex-Wishbone Ash.
There’s drumming heritage in Sonny’s family as his dad is Hughie Flint (John Mayall & The
Bluesbreakers, the Blues Band, McGuinness Flint), so unsurprisingly the first time Sonny played the
drums they were his dad’s. Sonny has been drumming since he was 13 years old and like Claire has
played and recorded with an eclectic group of musicians, covering all sorts of genres, from Punk to
Pop, Folk Rock to Prog, most recently recording with David Knopfler (ex-Dire Straits).
Sonny left Martin Turner in November 2024 after 2 years on the road with the band to explore new
musical projects.
Claire had more recently been working as a solo artist, but when Sonny suggested forming a band, she
was excited to start a new collaboration, record new songs and bring back old ones.
A great new musical adventure lies ahead and the band are keen to entertain live audiences.
Thank you for your interest in Claire’s music. Hopefully see you on the road.
More info here:
https://clairehamill.co.uk/
https://www.youtube.com/@clairehamill
https://www.facebook.com/ClaireHamillMusic
https://clairehamill.bandcamp.com/
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Black Frog Presents at The Hot Box 28-29 Viaduct Road, CM1 1TS Chelmsford, United Kingdom, 28-29 Viaduct Road, Chelmsford, CM1 1, United Kingdom,Chelmsford, Essex
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