Pat Hamilton Pure And Simple CD

PAT HAMILTON Biography Pat Hamilton is a singer-songwriter-guitarist, living in the Rocky Mountains near Vail,Colorado, with her husband David and her daughter Hilary. She was born and raised in asmall town in northwestern Minnesota, in the Red River Valley. She began singing at the topof her lungs while sailing through the air upon her swing, wrote her first song in first grade,and formed her first singing trio the same year, giving a unique performance of an ElvisPresley song to the second graders. In high school, she bought her first guitar, and after fewinstructions from a friend who played in a local band, she began playing, singing andcomposing folk-oriented songs. Pat attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, where she majored in Englishand French, and sang and entertained on an informal basis, solo as well as in a female duo. After she graduated, she taught school in Minnesota, then moved to Colorado and worked asa reporter. Her music remained a hobby until she moved to Vail, Colorado and beganperforming in its bars, restaurants and lodges to earn her living. In 1989, Pat made her first album, a Christmas album of familiar and not so familiar songsentitled "Christmas in Vail, with Pat Hamilton and Peter Vavra". The album features anoriginal song by Hamilton, "The Christmas Infant", a new Christmas classic which has becomea Vail favorite. The birth of her daughter, Hilary, inspired Pat to compose children's songs, which led toher second album, "Lullabyes and Other Songs", a gentle collection of original and coversongs loved by children and adults alike. This album has become a favorite in preschoolsacross the country and was selected as the children's album of the summer by the TatteredCover Bookstore in Denver. Pat has given numerous children's concerts throughout the VailValley and in Denver, singing songs from her album to her youngest fans. In 1991, Hamilton put together "Pat Hamilton, Pure and Simple", a very personal, movingcollection of her original folk songs. One of the album's outstanding songs, "Lost in Time", isdedicated to Pat's father and follows her childhood memories of him, entwined with anaccount of his battle with Alzheimer's Disease. Pat's fourth album "Sweet Memories" is a country folk album comprised of originals aswell as covers of Patsy Cline, John Prine, and others. Her originals shine on this album andrange from the poignant "Little Boy Blue" about a child living within an abusive familysituation, to the feisty "Everybody Says", a comeback to Tammy Wynette's "Stand by YourMan." Each Christmas, Pat gives a Christmas Concert benefit for the Salvation Army, raisingmore than $60,000 over the past several years. This standing -room-only event inspired her towrite several new Christmas songs and led to her fifth album, You Are My Christmas. Again,her originals are the standouts on this CD, ranging from romantic to gospel to Celtic to softjazz. Pat performs in Vail at the Vail Cascade Hotel and Spa, other bars and lounges in the area,and for weddings and private functions. Within the valley she has opened shows for DocWatson, Lyle Lovett , Commander Cody, and The Dixie Chicks. For two years she organizedand performed at a Women's Folk Concert, a benefit for the Women's Resource Center forabused women and children. When she's not performing or composing, Pat spends her timegardening, hiking, and practicing yoga. She can be reached at hawkeyevail@centurytel.net, and atwww.cdbaby.com/pathamilton.