No one could ever accuse Simeon Hammond Dallas of slacking. Over the past 12 months she has been playing with anyone and everyone with a showcase spot at AmericanaFest at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville. She has supported Allison Russell and others and joined the Color Me Country All Stars at the Long Road Festival over the 2024 August bank Holiday weekend. All this on top of playing her own shows and putting out recorded music.
Described on her Bandcamp page as “wickedly-badass pint-sized powerhouse”, Hammond Dallas manages to combine relatable and acutely observed songwriting, a powerful voice and a big stage presence in spite of her stature plus a good slice of London attitude (she’s from Camden Town).
I first came across her when she played a show at Camden’s Green Note as part of the all-female Heard collective in 2019. Even then, she stood out as a big talent. On stage, she tells of having been signed by a record company but then falling out with them over whether she’d do what they told her. She wouldn’t and has been an independent artist ever since.
Her first EP, “Manic Pixie Dreams” appeared in the spring of 2019 and comprises four songs. The striking features of the record are the strength of the songwriting and the confidence of the performance. And while the influences – jazz, blues, folk – may be classic, the music and lyrics are squarely 21st century.
The second track sets out her fiercely independent stall:
“I wanna live like the wild women
Wanna live a life that’s really worth something”
The pandemic couldn’t have come at a worse time for Hammond Dallas, who released her next track ‘Eat’ in February 2020. Unable to tour, she put out an EP of demos in the summer. “The Forgotten Demos” is unapologetically lo-fi and provides the listener with an insight into her creative process. The EP’s cover art evokes the punk era.
Later in the year, single ‘August’ was released. The song is an open tale of the trajectory of what seems to have been a relatively brief relationship. It’s a bit of a lyrical rollercoaster with the artist showing both strength and vulnerability.
Although gigging – I saw her open for Holly MacVe in Soho in 2021 – Hammond Dallas’ next foray into recorded music came with the issue of single ‘Hundred Lovers’ in May of 2022 ahead of her second EP proper “Make It Romantic” in the summer. Comprising five songs, “Make It Romantic” covers a lot of facets of Hammond Dallas’ music. It opens with the funny-snarky ‘The Blues Is A Game’ combining a nod to Jackson C Frank with a not-especially-gentle mocking of male music fans who think the blues begins and ends with Clapton. Live she has the audience singing out the chorus line “You ain’t got the blues you’re just a sad, sad man” which is pretty funny.
All five of the songs are high quality and the standouts vary from listen to listen. The raw ‘Fucking Her’ spits out the anger of betrayal while the title track is a dry look at life through the romcom lens.
Reviewing The Long Road Festival for AUK in 2024, I was watching the Color Me Country All Stars on the main stage when host Rissi Palmer introduced Hammond Dallas. She stepped out and delivered a superb version of latest single ‘Do I Die?’ which had the people standing around me cheering enthusiastically. The single has an accompanying video which Dallas directed herself.
Simeon Hammond Dallas is a very impressive live act, often accompanied by keyboard player/humour foil Gabe Holland. whose impact on stage goes beyond that from the record. Track her on Songkick.com or wherever you hear of your gigs and catch a show when she’s in your town.
Varied mix of influences – at one point I genuinely thought I could hear a bit of Take That (their later stuff). I can certainly see why you’re such a fan Richard, Simeon defies any particular genre and it’s very refreshing to our ears as a result. Thanks for bringing her my way 😀 Ryan