PRE-ORDER Hamilton Loomis’s new CD “BASICS” NOW!!

ALBUM
NOTES:

Hamilton
Loomis does indeed go back to basics on his new album, which is his most
personal and emotional effort to date. Gone are the double entendres for
which Loomis is known; this time, his lyrics are direct, personal, and often
autobiographical. The “basics” theme runs through the entire CD, in its
lyrics (“Prayer,” “Cloudy Day”), single-chord progressions (“Sugar
Baby,” “Looking Into a Dream”), simple melodies (“Come and Get
Me”), and stripped-down instrumentation of guitar, bass and drums (“Reason,”
“Getting So Big”).

Still,
Loomis’s trademark deep-grooved funk and soulful blues-rock is definitely
present. “I wanted this record to be more stripped-down. Even the CD jacket
is black and white and pretty basic itself,” he says of the disc, which
features songwriting collaborations with Grammy-award winning songwriter/
producer/bassist Tommy Sims, co-writer of Eric Clapton’s “Change the
World.”

Loomis’
2013 album “Give It Back” showed his pay-it-forward attitude of passing on
knowledge to young, up-and-coming musicians, just as his mentors (notably
Houston’s Joe Hughes, Johnny Copeland and rock icon Bo Diddley) once did for
him. On Basics, Loomis continues the tradition by featuring several of his
young protégées, and finishes the record with a jam session by some of his
favorite Houston-area youngsters, whose ages range from 13 to 16.

Loomis is
also on a mission to raise awareness about hyperinsulinism (HI), a rare
disease that causes low blood sugar. His 3-year-old son was diagnosed with
the life-threatening condition in 2015, and Loomis dedicates Basics’ opening
track, “Sugar Baby,” to Congenital Hyperinsulinism International (www.congenitalhi.org), an organization that heads
research on the disease, educates doctors and hospitals, and supports
families affected by the disease. “They call HI kids ‘sugar babies,’ so I
wanted to write a song in appreciation for all they do for families all over
the world,” Loomis says.