John Hampson sparkles with 'Shiny New Album'
LI singer John Hampson, formerly of the band Nine Days.
Other Columnists
John Hampson was tired of waiting.
The singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of Nine Days, had an album's worth of new songs he had been working on for more than a year in the basement studio of his St. James home. He liked the songs, which have a more adult, alt-country feel but maintain the same sort of pop catchiness that took "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" to No. 1. He got some music-industry interest in the songs, but no one wanted to commit right away.
So Hampson did it himself. He released "Shiny New Album" on his own label, with the collection hitting iTunes - as well as his own Web site, johnhampson.com - earlier this month. To support the album, he's been on a tour of the Northeast, which stops at the Long Island Maritime Museum on Aug 29.
"It's been an interesting little ride - a learning experience in a good way," Hampson says. "The music industry has fallen to a place where people can reinvent it. You can't play by the rules any more because there aren't any."
Considering how well Hampson's songs "Stella" or "The Last Time" would fit on the radio next to The Fray or Matt Nathanson, his timing could actually be right. "I think I've made the best artistic statement I ever have," Hampson says. "I wasn't trying to make a record for anyone else but me. I was not influenced by anything going on around me. When you're in a band, there's a certain democracy about the songs. When you're on a label, you have to do certain things. For this, I did just what I wanted. For better or for worse, this was for me."
Hampson plays the Long Island Maritime Museum's Seafood, Craft and Music Festival, 86 West Ave., West Sayville, 631-447-8679, at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. Admission to the festival is $5 through the museum's Web site, limaritime.org.
