You might know Tom Hamilton from JRAD aka Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, but after seeing his new band, you’ll know him for that. Tom’s musical career spans 30 years and he’s fronted several bands, including Brothers Past, American Babies and Ghost Light. He was also in Bill Kreutzmann’s Billy & the Kids, and Electron. I’ve been looking forward to his Pickle Barrel since I first saw it on the calendar but after speaking to him about the band, I’m more intrigued.
The band you’ll see at the Pickle is Tom (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar), Taylor Shell (Bass/From Turquaz), Tom McKee (Keyboards/From Brothers Past), Nick Paternostro (“Monster Drummer”, Tom’s words), and Rachel Cole (Backup Singer/”Voice of an Angel”, Tom’s words). Tom spoke of the band and said, “It’s a cool combination of people. It’s really nice.” Most of the set is the new record they just put out January 23rd, “I’m Your Vampire”, which will be available at the show. They also do some covers from Screaming Trees, Alice in Chains and The Cure , just to name a few. Tom added, “I also play stuff from other parts of my career. I’ve been making records for 20 years so I have a lot of tunes. It’s just good songs, heavy jamming, and just having a good time.”
Hearing Tom talk about Nick reminds me of Dexter Pettaway who plays in Connecticut band Ray Morant’s Soul Tsunami, who recently played at Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow, VT.. I told Tom it sounds like he has a “Dexter”. Ray once said, “There’s drummers, and then there’s Dexter. He’s the man.” Tom said, “When you find the guy who rhythmically gets you going, It’s the secret sauce. It’s the thing that pulls it over 10% of making it great. It’s very inspiring when you have a special drummer, and I’ve been lucky to have played with a lot of special drummers, and Nick is a continuation of that.”
Tom started making this album 2.5 years ago but didn’t have a specific band for it. Taylor and Tom were in Ghost Light together which fell apart, but they planned on staying together. Tom said, “I went into this record only having the bass part filled.” Tom has a writing partner, longtime friend Peter Tramo, and a studio in Philadelphia, where they’re from. Tom added, “Over the course of a year, the way it went was we’d write a batch of songs and when we got to the point of completion, we said let’s pick a band. Bring in a bunch of different people and see what they do with this batch of songs. We did that over the course of a year or so, and you learn as you go. This guy works, this guy doesn’t. We settled on this lineup because it feels like this one works the best.”
They just played a show at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ. Tom said, “It was really good. We had a really tough first week of tour. Our van broke down the first day then everybody got sick, and that snowstorm happened and we lost 4 shows because of it. We really needed this past weekend to be a good rebound for us, and it was. We played in Brooklyn on Friday and that was awesome, and then last night was a rager.”
Tom was friends with Bob Weir who recently passed. He said, “He was just a dude. It was a great hang. I was very lucky to have experienced a very tiny sliver of his life he let me see. It was really great. We played together dozens of times. We were in a band together for a minute. Before Dead and Company was a thing, we were doing this band called Los Muertos con Queso. It was Me, Bob, Bill Kreutzman, Dave Schools and Jeff Chimenti. It was cool. For a second there it was being talked about doing for a little while but then Mayer (John) came around and Dead & Co. Obviously John’s John, and I’m me (laughing), they made the right choice. I was lucky to have spent time with Bob, get some of that good energy rubbing off on ya, that magic those older guys have.”
Tom’s been in JRAD for about 12 years. He said, “We only do like one weekend a month, it’s like the army reserves. It’s pretty easy. We don’t road dog it too hard, which is nice. It keeps it fresh, keeps it fun.” The band started by accident. Tom said, “Joe was playing with the guys from the Dead in Furthur, which was a cool gig but at times playing those tunes with guys in their seventies was a bit trying. He and I would joke that we should play that music without the old guys, just being smart-asses. Then the opportunity came up to do a show like that, so we did it as a joke. It wasn’t supposed to be anything other than a one-off show but people responded to it, and enjoyed it. So still do it here and there but only play about 40 shows a year. It keeps it interesting.”
People think because JRAD is a Dead cover band, that’s all the guys play. Tom said, “ Me and the guys all played original music before JRAD. We all put out records, all the time of original stuff. We all have our own projects that aren’t Grateful Dead. We’re all improvisers and once a month we all get together and improvise on that particular songbook, but the rest of the time we’re all working on our own songbooks.” Tom can’t name one favorite Dead tune but said, “It’s a great catalog. I celebrate the whole thing.”
Tom’s first instrument was the drums and first influence was his older brother. He said, “I started on drums when I was 5 and moved to guitar when I was 10. My brother played drums when he was six and as soon as I was able to hold sticks, I wanted to do what he did. He switched to guitar so therefore I switched to guitar. It was very Dead and Allman Brothers influenced. He would have me learn some parts so I could be the rhythm guy while he solo’d over it.” Stevie Ray Vaughn is a major influence for Tom, and when SRV died, it was a big thing for him. Tom added, “I was watching SRV’s Austin City Limits with my Dad, and it was then I realized what you could do with a guitar and I started taking it seriously.” Tom other influences are Van Halen, Randy Rhoads and Warren Haynes. Tom started playing bars in Philly with his brother, when he was 12 for about 4 years. After that ended he started his own thing. He said, “That was mostly covers but as we got better at being musicians, we realized there’s a difference between being a musician and being an artist so we decided to write our own sit. Playing other people’s music is cool but if you really want to do something, you have to say something. Have your own point of view and create your own thing.”
Tom said, “Warren is the s*it. I love that guy. More recently because of the success of JRAD, I got to play with him. Not just an incredible guitar player but what a great dude.” Jan 16-18 JRAD played the Capital Theatre in New York. Tom added, “Bob had just passed, and Warren came and played with us the first night. Something for all of us to grieve Bob and be together. It was incredible. He’s f*cking Warren Haynes.”
Having grown up in Philly, Tom is a die hard Flyers fan. I grew up going to Hartford Whaler games so we briefly talked hockey. It was cool.
Tom loves the adventure of all this and said, “You don’t know what’s going to happen on stage each night. You’re in a different place all the time. I couldn’t think of a more satisfying way to go about it. Just being out there, seeing the country, and finding new ways to create meaningful art every night. It’s as worthy of a lifestyle as I could think.”
He’s online at www.tomhamiltonjr.com, and all the social media platforms plus his music is on Spotify, Apple, and elsewhere.
TOUR DATES:
Feb 4, 2026 Portland House of Music and Events Portland, ME with special guests Round Trip Tickets
Feb 5, 2026 Pickle Barrel Nightclub Killington, VT with special guests Round Trip Tickets
Feb 6, 2026 Broad Brook Opera House Broad Brook, CT *with special guests Round Trip Tickets
Feb 7, 2026 Lark Hall Albany, NY *with special guests Round Trip Tickets
Mar 17, 2026 WINSTONS (Winstons Beach Club) San Diego, CA Tickets
Mar 18, 2026 The Wayfarer Costa Mesa, CA Tickets
Mar 19, 2026 The Venice West Los Angeles, CA Tickets
Mar 20, 2026 Felton Music Hall Felton, CA Tickets
Mar 21, 2026 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA Unbroken Chain – A Celebration of the Life and Music of Phil Lesh On Sale 1/16
Mar 24, 2026 The Crystal Bay Club Casino Red Room Crystal Bay, NV Tickets
Mar 26, 2026 The Showdown Portland, OR Tickets
Mar 27, 2026 Hidden Hall Seattle, WA Tickets
Mar 31, 2026 The State Room Salt Lake City, UT Tickets
Apr 2, 2026 Aggie Theatre Fort Collins, CO Tickets
Apr 3, 2026 Cervantes’ Other Side (Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom & Cervantes’ Other Side) Denver, CO Tickets
Apr 4, 2026 10 Mile Ride: A Dead Head Ski Weekend (10 Mile Music Hall) Frisco, CO Tickets
Apr 24, 2026 Madison Theater Covington, KY *supporting Dogs In A Pile Tickets
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