Voted the UK's best blues-rock band and the leading interpreters of the music of Jimi Hendrix & ZZ Top
Voted the UK's leading blues-rock band by the readers of Blueprint magazine and described by "Whispering" Bob Harris on BBC Radio2 as "Undoubtedly one of Britain's very best live bands" - the Hamsters are a force to be reckoned with.
Now in their 15th year, with over 3,000 concert performances to their credit and with a national mailing list exceeding 20,000, The Hamsters are established as the UK's premier Blues-Rock attraction.
Though individual members have worked with artists such as Alison Moyet, Doctor Feelgood, The Art of Noise, Walter Trout, the late, great gentleman of British blues Alexis Korner and Eric Clapton (former bassist Dave Bronze appears on Clapton's "From The Cradle" album and is now Eric's resident sideman), The Hamsters have never fallen for the seductive advances of the mainstream. Their reputation has been achieved by straight-ahead hard work, with the band handling all their own affairs, disproving the popular misconception that it can't be done without major-label "muscle". The Hamsters are true pioneers of the "do-it-yourself" approach to rock promotion. They took their name from a Sex Pistols scam (the Pistols called themselves "The Hamsters" at selected venues in order to outwit hostile local licensing authorities).
Highlights of their massive itinerary include (amongst many festival performances) playing Guildford Festival for the 7th consecutive year in 2001 to a record crowd of 12,000 people, concerts and interviews on Radio 1, Radio 2, MTV, German National TV, and BBC's "Top Gear" and a special contribution to the Bill Wyman Radio 2 series "Bright Lights, Big City", documenting the story of British Rhythm and Blues from the Fifties to the present day.
Widely regarded as leading interpreters of the music of Jimi Hendrix and, recently, Z.Z.Top, they're equally comfortable playing Blues or tearing into a hard-rocking original. Their original 75 minute live album "They Live By Night" was released in January 2002 via Pinnacle.
Their version of Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" is included on an album of Dylan cover versions, featuring other artists such as Bryan Ferry, Joe Cocker, and The Byrds and is released throughout Europe by Polygram.
Guitarist "Snail-Pace" Slim is featured in a book called "17 Watts? The First 20 Years Of British Rock Guitar", talking about his early musical experiences alongside such luminaries as Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, George Harrison and David Gilmour.
Slim writes for Guitarist magazine when he has time, and was featured talking about his equipment(!) in the September '94 edition of Guitar Techniques magazine.
He was included in the "Guitarist Magazine Book of Guitar Players", published in '94 and Guitar Techniques magazine asked Slim to contribute a recorded lesson on how to play the Blues, for inclusion on a CD accompanying each monthly issue.
Slim was recently voted one of the top 100 guitarists of all time in a radio poll on LBC.
World Champion Formula 1 driver Damon Hill is a fan, and was spotted wearing a Hamsters tee shirt at the Hungarian Grand Prix!
The Hamsters are:
Slim - Guitar, Singer
Rev. Otis - Drums, Sings a bit
Zsa Zsa - Bass, Sings a bit
"The Hamsters really kick ass, Slim is one of your greatest guitar players" Walter Trout
"Outstanding" The Guardian
"Their Voodoo Chile, makes a total mockery of Stevie Ray Vaughan's supposedly seminal version. Their Hendrix tribute album, Electric Hamsterland, is a triumph.. A rhythm section most bands would sell their mothers for, and a guitarist who gives you the whole history of rock and blues in two hours." Kerrang
"Top drawer, rough-edged R'n'B" Time Out
"Evil R'n'B with maximum impact - Rock and roll at its very best" Guitarist magazine
"The Hamsters could play in Austin, Texas and suffer no embarrassment. The only difference between them and similarly driven outfits like the Black Crowes is the size of the marketing budget available" Hi-Fl News
