Abby Hamilton is a young singer and songwriter from Wilmore, Southwest of Lexington, Kentucky. She was raised in a musical family, with great aunts part of a gospel group named The Hamilton Family, and a brother who’s the lead guitarist in her band.
Abby Hamilton released two EP’s, “Broke Girl“, in 2017, and “Afraid of The Dark“, in 2020. This last one included some amazing songs, like “Fast“, “Big Time” and the wonderful “Change Things“. This last one is the song that put her on my radar, after listening to it during Taff Martin’s real country show, on Abbey 104, a show well-known by real country lovers, unluckily ended now.
“#1 Zookeeper (of the San Diego zoo)” is her debut album, released on October 13th, via Blue Gown Records. It was produced by Duane Lundy, who also produced Abby Hamilton’s EP’s. Duane Lundy, from Lexington, Kentucky, collaborated with a lot of country artists and was the producer of Justin Well’s wonderful albums, “Dawn In The Distance” and “The United State“. He also produced David Jameson’s brilliant “Tall Dark Pines“. Justin Craig co-produced the record.
Abby Hamilton’s talent as a songwriter is noticeable in each song of the album. Her band did a fantastic job, with her brilliant brother Zach Hamilton (lead guitar), Zach Martin (drums) and Carson Childers (bass).
The title track is a splendid song, with excellent pedal steel and keyboards that perfectly showcases Abby Hamilton’s voice. Beautifully written, sad and nostalgic, highly relatable, it’s about a past relationship, with Abby Hamilton imagining who’s her replacement. I think that this song brings us the most emotional moment on this album. The video of the song, made with creativity, is amazing.
Now I’m wondering how you’re spending time
It’s yours now once was mine
So I light up one at 8am
Try not to cry at work again
#1 Zookeeper
“Lucky“, another fantastic and catchy song, with perfect instrumentation and wonderful songwriting, is undoubtedly to listen on repeat.
“Whatever Let You Sleep At Night“, released as a single one month before the album, is a catchy song that will also let you appreciate the beautiful voice of Abby Hamilton and her talent for songwriting.
“Baby Let’s Ride“, a beautiful song with excellent pedal steel, “Mayday“, “Soccer Field” and “Displacer“, are other gems present on this record.
Definitely, it was worth waiting for this debut album. “#1 Zookeeper (of the San Diego Zoo)” is brilliant and authentic, with wonderful songwriting and excellent music. Abby Hamilton sings with a lot of sensibility and its brings us a lot of emotion. She’s undoubtedly an artist who we need to keep an eye on.
Nicolas Davelu
Country Music France 