CLAIRE HAMILL BAND

"Probably the best singer you've never heard" — MOJO Magazine

From the first golden flicker of the early '70s progressive folk explosion to the expansive, genre-blurring soundscapes of today, Claire Hamill stands as one of British music's most quietly influential and enduring artists — a true prog-adjacent voyager whose remarkable story now stretches across more than five decades and into an exciting new chapter in 2026.

Born in Middlesbrough and discovered while still a teenager, Claire signed to Island Records in 1971 at just 17 years old — stepping into a legendary roster at a time when British music was exploding with creativity. Her debut album One House Left Standing (1971), followed swiftly by October (1972), revealed a songwriter of rare sensitivity and emotional depth, drawing comparisons with the emerging progressive folk movement that surrounded artists like Sandy Denny and Nick Drake. Her haunting performances on The Old Grey Whistle Test introduced her to a wider audience, while tours across the UK, Europe and the USA placed her firmly within that golden era of adventurous, boundary-pushing music.

But Claire was never content to stay in one lane.

Moving into the mid-'70s, she embraced a more progressive and experimental path, signing to the Konk label and working closely with Ray Davies, who produced Stage Door Johnnies (1974). By the age of just 21 she had already taken full creative control, self-producing Abracadabra (1975) — a bold and fearless move that underlined her independence as an artist. It was during this period that she became deeply embedded within the progressive rock world, collaborating with Wishbone Ash — co-writing their enduring live favourite "Living Proof" with Laurie Wisefield — and touring the United States with the band, further cementing her reputation among musicians' musicians.

Her musical curiosity continued to pull her into new territories. By the late '70s and early '80s she was working with Steve Howe and the visionary composer Vangelis, as well as jazz-fusion outfit Morrissey-Mullen, absorbing influences that would later surface in her increasingly atmospheric and cinematic work.

The mid-'80s saw another transformation. With Touchpaper (1984) and the groundbreaking Voices (1986), Claire began blending synthesisers, ambient textures and pastoral English songwriting into something entirely her own — Voices reaching No.1 in the New Age charts and being used by the BBC in Domesday Project, introducing her music to a whole new audience. Follow-up album Love in the Afternoon (1988) brought her full circle — fusing that electronic exploration with a return to more traditional songwriting, while her music became a visual companion to Channel 4's Art of Landscape series in the early '90s.

Like many true artists, Claire's path has never been linear. She stepped back from the spotlight to raise her family, before re-emerging in the late '90s and 2000s with renewed creative energy — exploring electro-pop, reissuing her catalogue, and experiencing a remarkable resurgence when Eva Cassidy recorded "You Take My Breath Away," bringing her songwriting to a global audience once again. From there came a steady stream of deeply personal, critically respected albums including The Meeting of Waters (2012), When Daylight Arrives (2015), Over Dark Apples (2019) and A Pocket Full of Love Songs (2022), alongside her work as vocalist with the Yes-inspired band Fragile.

Fast forward to now, and Claire is not looking back — she's surging forward.

2025 saw the birth of the Claire Hamill Band, a bold new 5-piece collective bringing fresh energy, deeper grooves and a more expansive, progressive edge to her songwriting. Their debut material evolved into the album Troubadour (2025) — a record that flows effortlessly between dark psychedelia, folk, ambient textures and progressive colour, earning praise for its richness and diversity.

At the heart of this new era is her creative partnership with drummer Sonny Flint — and here the story comes full circle…

Sonny is the son of Hughie Flint, the legendary drummer of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers during the iconic Clapton years, and later a founding member of McGuinness Flint and The Blues Band — one of the key rhythmic architects of British blues-rock.

Carrying that legacy forward, Sonny has built a powerful career of his own — touring internationally with Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash, sharing stages with bands such as Asia, Focus and Curved Air, and working with artists including David Knopfler. When he stepped away from Wishbone Ash in late 2024, it opened the door for this new collaboration with Claire — a meeting of musical lineages that stretches from the British blues boom of the '60s, through the progressive explosion of the '70s, and into a modern, genre-fluid present.

And you can feel it in the music — this isn't nostalgia… it's evolution.

Now touring into 2026, the Claire Hamill Band deliver a powerful, immersive live set — weaving brand new material from Troubadour with songs drawn from a catalogue that spans more than half a century.

And in the intimate, spellbinding surroundings of Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre, this promises to be something truly special…

? Ethereal… progressive… deeply human…
? A voice shaped by time, yet forever searching…
? A band where legacy meets the future…

This is not just a concert — it's a living, breathing journey through the hidden corridors of British music history..