We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nathan Hamilton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nathan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I grew up in a fairly musical household. Listening, singing, and playing music was something that was greatly appreciated and valued. My father and brother both played guitar and sang, my mother sang and there was also a lot of singing in church. I also performed as an actor in school plays and in community theater productions. And  after high school studied art and design.  I have always had a lot of different creative interests and pathways and I have felt free to follow all of them at any given moment. I never felt that I had to choose any one medium. I still, to this day, follow those varying creative roads and I find that one often informs the other. I don’t recall having a flash moment of, “this is what I want to do for a living”, but I do remember feeling that this is what I want to do with my life. I knew that I wanted to pursue the development of a skillset that incorporates creativity and performance.

Nathan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As a singer songwriter I have been writing, recording and performing for over 30 years. I have released several albums and toured internationally. I suppose my style would fall under the category of Americana, as I incorporate elements of folk, rock, country and jazz into my music. I am currently working on a new record with a Japanese producer who has introduced some beats, synths and electronic elements into the music as well. I am always seeking new ground with each record and this new one is certainly no exception. I am very excited about it and how it sounds. Now I just have to learn to play it live. Ha! For many years I played and toured with a full band but in the last ten years or so I have primarily been playing as a duo with a cellist or sometimes as a trio with an additional guitarist. I also began playing more listening rooms and house concerts and not so many clubs and bars as I once did. This has been a great experience on many levels. The house concerts in particular are special and unique in their sense of community. There is usually a potluck and so there is often a shared meal before the show and getting to know folks a bit more than one might at a bar or club performance. And because the show is usually in a living room or backyard there is an intimacy to the shows and the exchange between the audience and performer is palpable. There is often a built in crowd who have been coming to the concerts for awhile and know that the hosts bring in quality artists. Financially they are very rewarding as well. There is usually a “suggested donation” all of which typically goes to the performer. In recent years, many musicians have watched half their income evaporate as cd sales and digital downloads were replaced with streaming services that pay artists very little. This meant that many artists would need to tour and play live more in order to make up for that loss of income. As I began to feel this pressure myself I had two teen daughters at home and I knew that my being gone more frequently was not something I wanted or was willing to do. Thankfully I had developed skills as a trim carpenter and cabinetmaker all along while I was doing music. When I was not touring I would work with different guys or cabinet shops and learn the ins and outs of the trade. This proved to be especially beneficial during the pandemic when everything shut down and live music was no longer possible. But as a carpenter, I never stopped working the whole time. There used to be more of a stigma for artists who also had another side or day job. There was the idea that they were somehow not as serious or committed. I think streaming really began to shift that idea as more and more established artists began to feel the ramifications of the new paradigm. It used to be that carpentry was a supplement to the music but that has flipped now. I love doing them both. There is great satisfaction in working with a client to help them realize the vision for a piece of furniture or millwork that they will live with and utilize every day. It feels great to look back at what you have accomplished at the end of a project. To see a beautiful bar or bookcase that didn’t exist days before. It is much like songwriting in that way. I think having the carpentry business also helps take some of the pressure off of the music “business” side of things and has allowed me to enjoy the music in a new and fresh way. I know I will ramp up the touring again for a bit when the new record is released and that is something I am really excited about because I love performing and traveling. Now it feels more like something I get to do rather than something I have to do. There is a different expectation of it than there once was and that feels quite liberating.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

While I understand the term “non-creatives” ii sometimes makes me bristle a bit if I am honest. When I am talking with people after a show I will often hear them say something like, “I wish I was creative” or “I’m not creative or talented like that”. And I don’t really believe that to be true. It may be that they just simply haven’t discovered it yet. I think we all have the capacity to be creative in one way or another but we just may not have been encouraged to tap into and explore that part of ourselves. In our youth we may receive a message by a parent or a teacher or some authority figure that discourages us from our creative instincts and so it never gets developed. But it doesn’t mean it is not still there. Certainly there are people who seem to come into the world with a higher gift or innate ability in a given realm. The child prodigy at the piano is the classic example. But these are outliers and not the norm. I think, generally, what we call talent is really just a skillset that has been developed over time. It is the evidence of work put into an interest or passion. I think the idea of “talent” stops a lot of people from exploring their creative selves. And of course creativity takes many forms. It may look like someone on stage performing 90 minutes of original music or it may look like a simple pencil sketch or poem in a notebook done on a Sunday afternoon that no one ever sees or it may look like the ability to unify and motivate a group of employees around a boardroom table.

Of course there are often the financial challenges of pursuing life and work as a creative. That is something that I think many people would struggle with and find difficult to handle. But I also think that is true for many self employed people regardless of the creative nature of their work. And being in control of one’s own time and schedule is empowering and a great benefit as well. That, for me, along with the work itself, offsets the financial risks and uncertainties.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

While there is great satisfaction in completing a song or a painting or a piece of millwork and being able to see what you have created, I think what I find most satisfying is the work itself when I am in a moment of flow. This can look like true excitement and surprise at a melody line or lyric I write, that actually has me laughing out loud with joy at discovering it. Or it may look like quiet meditation while exploring an abstract world with paint on canvas or planing a micro- chamfer on the edge of a piece of walnut. Of course there are also moments of frustration and more than a few songs abandoned or materials scrapped, only to start again. But that is all part of the discovery and the learning process that never ends.

It has not always been easy financially and I still sometimes struggle off and on as a self employed artist, but I have always been able to provide for my family and pay the bills with my creative skills in one way or another. I have also been well rewarded with the experiences I have had and the connections I have made over the years. I have performed between 1500-2000 shows in parts of the world I never thought I would see. I have deep, long lasting friendships I have made and fans that I have met over the years because of music and my creative efforts. I don’t have a high profile on social media or large numbers of “followers” but I have real, authentic experiences with many people around the world. I suppose in all of my creative pursuits and efforts, what I am really doing is trying to connect with others and to recognize and acknowledge our shared experiences as humans here together. My songs have been played at birthdays, weddings and funerals. I have had both parents and their kids tell me that listening to my music together was something they shared and bonded over. And now those kids are grown and sharing the music with their own kids. You just can’t put a price on something like that. It’s these experiences and connections that are most rewarding above all. And this journey continues still.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nathanhamilton.com www.hamiltonwoodworksatx.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanhamilton023/ https://www.instagram.com/hamiltonwoodworksatx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathan.hamilton.127
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwhW_kKzaJ42iyMf7iRGxxQ

Image Credits
Scott Carson Ausburn Brooks Burris Laura Thomas NathanHamilton