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Musical Lairs House Concerts

Tom Hampton

November 2, 2024

Tom HamptonMost of us know Tom Hampton as the extremely talented multi-instrumentalist who backs up many of our favorite performers.  What you might not know is that Tom is a songwriter in his own right.

A few songs into the new Tom Hampton album A Month Of Somedays, it's easy to get the sense that these songs have been simmering on low heat over the course of several soul-searching years. Hampton is certainly no stranger to the studio - on his own behalf or in the service of records by Craig Bickhardt, Dan May, Mustangs of the West, Michael Braunfeld, Chris Canterbury, or Cimarron 615 (the band he formed with fellow ex-Poco members in the wake of the 2021 death of their founder, Rusty Young). Still, the drought between releases of original material (27 years) has been a long one.

Whether touring with John Lilley of the Hooters, Philadelphia legend Robert Hazard, the band Idlewheel (which featured Craig Bickhardt and Poco bassist Jack Sundrud) or a stint on the road with rockers the Marshall Tucker Band, he made several albums on a recreational basis but his songwriting took a backseat to his instrumental craft. After relocating to Nashville and an invitation to join the pioneering country rock band Poco, Tom felt ready to settle into his new role in a band he'd loved since his teenage years - until the pandemic sidelined the notion of touring. So Hampton rediscovered his yellow legal pad.

"I knew I’d be expected to contribute songs to the record, and that I’d have to sharpen that skill set again and shake off the rust, but it was as if I opened up a vein," he recalled. "I must have written a dozen songs when we started collecting material for the record, and I haven’t really slowed down since."

What is a house concert?

Simply put - it's live acoustic music in a private living room with an audience of friends, both new and old, and great food that everyone brings to share. The music is outstanding - these are very talented musicians. Most tour professionally, usually nationally, some even internationally. More...


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Guitar painting provided by Lena Karpinsky