While Tom Hamilton may still be relatively young, the singer commands his nursery of American Babies with all the seasoned know-how of someone twice his age. Hamilton's band is positively huge, a co-ed family comprised of two guitarists, a bassist, a xylophone virtuoso (!!), Mr. Hamilton himself, and a solid drummer courtesy of the Benevento/Russo Duo. Such a lineup could easily create a large, boisterous sound, but the American Babies apply a "less is more" mentality to these rootsy, country-infused tunes. When Hamilton strums his acoustic guitar, casually wails into his harmonica, and leads the American Babies in another one of their wistful numbers, he channels the likes of Gram Parsons and Ryan Adams. And when the American Babies wrap their three-part harmonies around Hamilton's twangy baritone, it's not hard to see this group - and their young leader - enjoying a career as lengthy as those aforementioned luminaries. |
