Music
Solo acoustic guitar
Adhyâropa Records recording artist Edward Hamlin’s work has appeared on four albums and a film soundtrack. The title track of his debut album, Rooted, has been used as part of the sound environment for hospice rooms designed to create a contemplative space for the dying.
Raised in Chicago, Hamlin played in Chicago-style electric blues bands for some years before shifting to focus on acoustic fingerstyle in the 1990s. His new album, Aloft, will be released on Adhyâropa Records in September, 2025.
Taking full advantage of the chromatic freedom offered by altered tunings, Edward Hamlin's work moves effortlessly between the sonic worlds of Celtic music, modal jazz, modern ballads and rock. Like fingerstyle pioneers Don Ross, Michael Hedges, Justin King and Alex De Grassi, his pieces meld instantly memorable melodic lines with a strong rhythmic pulse.
"This debut outing reveals a mature acoustic guitarist who is unnecessarily modest about his well-refined craft… The tone is elegiac…one hears surrender to the allure of the instrument, all in itself."
— Steve Klingaman, Minor 7th
“I’ve always been drawn to players who favor melody over open-tuning atmospherics, and melodic rhythmic lines over percussive effects. There’s a place for those techniques, but for me they need to be in the service of a melodic concept. It’s got to sing, always. And it’s got to have guts and groove.”
— Edward Hamlin
