One-Line Tagline
Claire Hamill: A pioneering voice in British folk, rock and progressive music.
1. Short Bio
Claire Hamill is a pioneering British singer-songwriter whose career spans over five decades, moving between folk, rock, ambient and progressive music. Signed to Island Records at just 17, she went on to collaborate with Steve Howe, Jon & Vangelis, Ray Davies and Wishbone Ash, while releasing a series of acclaimed solo albums including the groundbreaking Voices (1986).
Now fronting the Claire Hamill Band, she continues to create adventurous new music - from the single “Melting into Water” on the 2025 compilation Travelling Light, to the band’s debut album Troubadour (2025), and most recently A House Among The Trees (2026), a powerful new release that further defines her evolving sound.
2. Full Bio
Claire Hamill is a pioneering British singer-songwriter whose career spans over five decades, now entering a powerful new phase with the Claire Hamill Band. Blending rock, progressive and folk influences, the band has brought fresh energy and a dynamic new edge to Claire’s distinctive and visionary songwriting, combining her unmistakable voice with a rich, collaborative sound.
Since releasing her debut album One House Left Standing (1971) at just 17, Claire has continually evolved as an artist, moving between genres and pushing creative boundaries. In the 1970s she released acclaimed albums including October, Stage Door Johnnies and Abracadabra, and toured extensively with artists such as John Martyn, Procol Harum, Jethro Tull and King Crimson.
Her career has included a wide range of collaborations, from Steve Howe’s The Steve Howe Album and Jon & Vangelis’s The Friends of Mr Cairo, to work with the jazz-fusion group Morrissey-Mullen and Wishbone Ash. These experiences helped shape her adventurous and genre-defying musical approach.
Claire’s solo work continued to explore new territory with Touchpaper (1984) and the groundbreaking Voices (1986), a wordless vocal album that anticipated the rise of ambient and new age music. Her music has been featured by the BBC, including in The Domesday Book, and her song “You Take My Breath Away” was later recorded by Eva Cassidy.
In more recent years, Claire has returned to a prolific run of releases including The Lost & the Lovers (2004), When Daylight Arrives (2015), Over Dark Apples (2019), and A Pocket Full of Love Songs (2022). She also contributed lead vocals to two albums with the progressive rock band Fragile (Golden Fragments, 2020, and Beyond, 2021).
Now joined by drummer, arranger and recording engineer Sonny Flint, guitarist Sean Elliott, and bassist and mastering engineer John Nicholls, the Claire Hamill Band has evolved into a close creative partnership. Together they have created Troubadour (2025) and A House Among The Trees (2026), developing a powerful and atmospheric sound that continues to expand Claire’s musical horizons both on record and on stage.
3. Claire Hamill Band
The Claire Hamill Band marks a major new chapter in Claire’s career, bringing together a group of accomplished musicians whose collaborative approach has reshaped both her recorded work and live sound.
Alongside Claire’s distinctive and visionary songwriting, drummer Sonny Flint plays a central creative role as arranger and recording engineer, helping to shape the band’s distinctive sonic identity. Guitarist Sean Elliott brings a melodic, structured style that has drawn comparisons to Steve Hackett and George Harrison, while bassist John Nicholls - also an accomplished mixing and mastering engineer - adds depth, atmosphere and musical precision to the recordings and live performances.
Together, the band has created the albums Troubadour (2025) and A House Among The Trees (2026), developing a rich sound that blends rock, progressive influences, folk textures and atmospheric songwriting.
Claire on the new band:
“I’m so excited to be working with a new group of musicians — such talented ones at that. I’ve been fortunate to work with great players in the past, and my new colleagues are no exception. At this stage in my career it’s also really important to be having fun. These days the music seems to flow so easily, and that brings great joy.”
4. Debut Single– Melting into Water
The Claire Hamill Band’s debut single, “Melting into Water”, was released in March 2025 as part of Travelling Light: The Best of Josephine Claire Hamill Vol. II, a compilation spanning Claire’s work from 2007 to 2025.
The track marked the first showcase of the band’s sound, highlighting their musical chemistry and introducing a more expansive, progressive direction.
Claire on the single:
“Melting into Water was a wonderful surprise. When I went back into the studio to record the lead vocal, I added a little eastern-sounding wobble at the end of some phrases. Sonny immediately picked up on it and asked me to push it further. The boys then set to experimenting even more, which resulted in a very esoteric sound that really complements the song.”
Following this first release, the band went on to record Troubadour (2025), their debut album of entirely new material, and have continued to develop their sound with the subsequent release of A House Among The Trees (2026).
🎵 Single: Melting into Water (2025)
📀 From the album: Travelling Light - The Best of Josephine Claire Hamill Vol. II (2025)
🔗 https://open.spotify.com/track/68UPNIAHbR7HK8Q2YWrLTl?si=d800548c94f64713 - https://clairehamill.bandcamp.com/track/melting-into-water
5. Debut Album – Troubadour
Released in August 2025, Troubadour is the first full album of wholly new material by the Claire Hamill Band. Written by Claire, and recorded together, it marks an exciting new chapter for Claire, blending her songwriting roots with the fresh progressive and rock influences brought by the band.
Claire on the album:
“Troubadour marks a new direction for me as a singer and writer, and that’s entirely down to collaborating with Sonny. He’s such a wonderful drummer that I realised I’d have to take this album in a more rock-influenced direction and explore different vocal sounds. Why not? It’s fun to experiment — and you know me, I’ve never been one to shy away from trying new sounds and genres!”
Prog Magazine on the album (Issue 166):
“As warm, supple and confident as you'd expect of an artist so seasoned, the appropriately titled ‘Troubadour’ is an album of pleasing diversity. Peppered by fruity bursts of recorder (played by Hamill), it gets off to a winning start with a jaunty title track that brings to mind Stackridge, before moving through the gears to cover dark psychedelia (Missing You), sun-kissed folk (The Earth Beneath the Flowers), and best of all, the saccharine-flavoured and deeply irresistible ‘Two Bluebirds’. […] Hamill is now beginning to reestablish a presence on the live circuit. On this evidence she still has plenty to offer."
🎵 Single: This Affair (2025)
📀 From the album: Troubadour (2025)
🔗 https://open.spotify.com/album/7gG46wOJ3Y4uYMco2AC7uW?si=IKu3QB3WQBeX_SXblXB8XA - https://clairehamill.bandcamp.com/track/this-affair
6. New Album – A House Among The Trees
The Claire Hamill Band return with a new studio album, A House Among The Trees, continuing their creative partnership following Troubadour. Developed in collaboration with the band, it features Claire Hamill alongside Sonny Flint (drums & percussion), Sean Elliott (guitars), and John Nicholls (bass), the album further explores the band’s evolving sound, blending folk, rock and progressive influences with Claire’s distinctive songwriting.
The album also features special guest appearances from two outstanding musicians:
- David Knopfler (Dire Straits), who contributes Grand Piano and Hammond organ on one track
- Mark Abrahams (Wishbone Ash), who performs a blistering guitar solo on another
Together, these collaborations add new colour and depth to an already rich and atmospheric record.
Claire on the album:
“A house among the trees has many rooms, all with a different story - innocence, seduction, charm, danger.
It begins with exploring the importance of finding something meaningful inside yourself, and ends with the recognition that ‘all we have is now’.
But the journey through obsession and betrayal is tempered with sweet, loving commitment, and the mystical power of sound… the sound of ‘Your Name’.”
🎵 Single: Intoxicating (2026)
📀 From the album: A House Among The Trees (2026)
🔗 https://clairehamill.bandcamp.com/track/this-affair
7. 2026 Tour – One House Left Standing
In 2026, the Claire Hamill Band embark on the One House Left Standing tour, marking 55 years since the recording of Claire’s debut album.
The tour celebrates a remarkable career while looking firmly forward, with performances featuring material from 2025’s Troubadour, songs from the brand new studio album ‘A House Among The Trees’, and highlights drawn from across Claire’s catalogue.
Selected upcoming dates include:
- St Leonards – The Piper – Album Launch (25 April) with support from Dandelion Charm
- London – Camden Club (31 May) with support by Dandelion Charm
- Nene Valley Rock Festival – Kingfisher Stage (4 September)
Further dates across the UK to be announced.
Full tour details: clairehamill.co.uk/live
8. Press Quotes
“Claire Hamill has long been one of progressive music’s hidden gems.” – Prog Magazine
“A true pioneer, she’s effortlessly moved between folk, rock, ambient and progressive soundscapes.” – Prog Magazine
“Her landmark 1986 album Voices anticipated the entire new age and ambient vocal movement.” – Prog Magazine
“Vocally, too, she remains powerful…” – Goldmine Magazine (2023)
“A good song can make you feel sentimental, can even make you feel guilty or excited or joyful.” – Psychedelic Baby Magazine (2023)
“Nothing folky, but totally pastoral. A (mostly) wordless spectrum of feeling.” – ListenToThis.info (2017, on Voices)
“It’s an utterly fascinating bit of art pop, a middle ground of Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush-style music…” – Fondsound (on Voices)
“It was a more confident record than its predecessor and Claire’s vocals exhibited a colloquial flair, looser and more relaxed…” – Charles Donovan (Rock ’n’ Roll Survivor review)
“There are jewels to be found throughout Claire Hamill’s career…” – ListenToThis.info (on Voices)
“Claire has a solid reputation among fans of early-seventies singer-songwriter music… and new age music.” – Songs from So Deep (retrospective)
“Probably the best singer you’ve never heard.” – MOJO Magazine
8. Photos
Claire Hamill Portrait 2025: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370668/2025claireheadshotsolobw.jpg 72dpi: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370676/2025claireheadshotsolobwlow.jpg
A very young Claire Hamill: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370669/averyyoungclairehamill.jpg 72dpi: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370677/averyyoungclairehamilllow.jpg
Claire Hamill Band - Live Shot: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370667/clairehamillbandlivehull.jpg 72dpi: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370678/clairehamillbandlivehulllow.jpg
Claire Hamill Band - Group Shot: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370670/clairehamillbandtransporter.jpg 72dpi: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370681/clairehamillbandtransporterlow.jpg
Claire Hamill's first album: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370665/firstalbumonehouseleftstanding1971.jpg 72dpi: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370682/firstalbumonehouseleftstanding1971low.jpg
Claire Hamill Band's first album: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370666/2025albumtroubadour.jpg 72dpi: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370675/2025albumtroubadourlow.jpg
Claire Hamill Band logo (colour): https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370672/clairehamillbandlogoyellow.jpg 72dpi: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370680/clairehamillbandlogoyellowlow.jpg
Claire Hamill Band logo (b&w): https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370673/clairehamillbandlogobw.jpg 72dpi: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1370679/clairehamillbandlogobwlow.jpg
2026 One House Left Standing Tour Poster - A3 size: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1379496/2026tourpostera3.jpg72dpi: https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1379497/2026tourpostera372dpi.jpgSocial Media size (not A3): https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1379498/2026tourpostersocialmedia.jpg
Social Media size with press quotes - https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1403605/chb2026toursocials.jpg A3 size with press quotes - https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1403606/2026a3tourpostermoreinfo.jpg
2025 album - Troubadour front cover - https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1412426/troubadourcover.jpg
2026 album - A House Among The Trees - https://clairehamill.co.uk/files/1412425/ahouseamongthetreescdcover.jpg
9. Videos
“Melting into Water” – Official Video - Introducing the Claire Hamill Band - https://youtu.be/IHIG9XNMSj0?si=AAzgswlt49iJ8ky2
“This Affair” – Official Video - Claire Hamill Band's Second Single - https://youtu.be/48CQGsbUzbU?si=CTU--yyzIpyYWAoG
Live performance – Ultra Violet Light - with the Claire Hamill Band - https://youtu.be/EoX4XFxYJz8?si=Q0NPQgGsiE7iszAw
10. Contact
📧 Management/Press Enquiries: Christina Brandenburg - christina.chband@gmail.com
🌐 Website: https://clairehamill.co.uk/
📱 Socials: https://www.facebook.com/ClaireHamillMusic - https://www.youtube.com/@clairehamill - https://clairehamill.bandcamp.com/