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Hamish Anderson at Make Music Pasadena 6/11/16. Photo by Derrick K. Lee, Esq. (@Methodman13)

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A few of my friends who are fans of blues/folk rock have suggested that I check out a young chap from Melbourne, Australia, named Hamish Anderson. Doing a little research online, I discovered that he had spent time on the road opening for the legendary B.B. King and was lauded as an outstanding blues guitar player who sings with heartfelt vocals.

For me, blues rock is a genre that is rooted in reality. My favorite blues singers are those who sing from a real pain borne from life experiences. Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Janis Joplin, Etta James … every recording from their songbooks has a rawness, a true emotion, that they’ve curried from life. I know little about Hamish Anderson, but I know that he is only in his early 20s. My decision to see him perform at Make Music Pasadena was based on the curiosity to see whether or not his blues was believable. I was impressed.

Insofar as this was the first time I really listened to Hamish’s music, I couldn’t really soak in and comprehend the lyrics of the songs. That will take more time with his music. What I did take away from his live performance was that Hamish has the gift of writing catchy melodic lines accompanied with really emotive guitar licks. His capable backing band, moistened by the hazy mist that dampened every corner of the stage, fell into Hamish’s groove, modulating tempo to the moods that their frontman was emoting.

There was a certain wide-eyed, innocence to Hamish’s performance that was particularly refreshing, but I tam excited to see/hear how his sound develops with the years to come, when the stories of his  life can be injected into his music’s soul.

Follow Hamish Anderson on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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