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The Hamiltons
are a dynamic folk music duo. Their mission is to share the living accessible folk music through performances and teaching. They interpret folk songs and music from America and other lands, some of it collected in their travels. They play between them, 6 and 12 string guitars, 5 string banjo, autoharp, mandolin, and tenor banjos. These instruments are mainly used for accompanying the songs. Frank's history in folk music goes back to teen-aged years in California where he was a "pickin' buddy" of Woody Guthrie, grew up in the company of Pete Seeger and Will Geer. In high school, he heard and loved the music of the Weavers and in 1963, he joined the group taking the place of his friend Erik |
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| He appeared at the first Newport
Folk Festival in 1959. He was the house musician for The Gate of Horn,
the nation's first folk music nightclub in Chicago. On November, 1957, along with Win Stracke, he organized and founded the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. He headed the teaching program through 1963. The School thrives today with an enrollment of 6,500 students per week and is the largest non-profit music school in the country. Mary has had an appreciation for folk music since early childhood. She first learned from her musical grandmother and later heard a group singing labor songs on the radio. Mary recalls, while listening, the door to her father’s office opening so slightly and a hand coming around the corner, turning off the wonderful songs. Remembering this, she searched the radio for songs at every opportunity finding great treasures on the airwaves. Later, at Girl Scout camp in Fairlee, Vermont, she led singing and wrote songs recounting the many hiking trips and camp capers. These recounts often earned her a seat at the head table at dinnertime, a place of honor and extra dessert. Her mother, who was the camp nurse, encouraged her by seeing to it that she had an instrument. This was a beautiful “Islander” ukulele to take on camp trips. Mary continued her music with guitar and autoharp, singing with her children, friends and at community events. Mary has taught privately and through adult education centers in New England. Frank and Mary have combined their talents and love of performance with their marriage, now into its third decade. Together, they keep the music turned on! They truly believe in sharing the world’s folk music; it promotes unity and healing. This is their mission. |
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