Crescent City blues and R&B vocalist Larry Hamilton had a revelatory experience at age five when he first heard the Mardi Gras beats of Shriners bands. He took up drums, but his grandmother arranged for him to take piano lessons. He began singing at age 9 and wrote his first lyrics when he was 12. By the time he was 15, he began singing professionally with David Batiste and the Gladiators. His influences include Ray Charles, Nat "King" Cole, Sam Cooke, Big Joe Turner and Otis Redding. Hamilton sang with the Gladiators from 1965 until the mid-1970s, but also toured with Curtis Mayfield, Betty Swan, Jimmy Hughes, Jackie Wilson, Percy Sledge, Little Johnny Taylor, David Ruffin, Major Lance, Z.Z. Hill and Al Green. As a songwriter, Hamilton composed "Get On Your Job" for Etta James, "Feel Like Dynamite" for King Floyd, "She's Taking My Part" for Irma Thomas, and "The Feeling" for Albert King. He has also written tunes for Jean Knight, Wayne Cochran and Johnny Adams. At a recording session in the late 1970s, Hamilton met producer/songwriter and impresario Allen Toussaint. He joined Toussaint's group and did some touring with him. The two remained close friends, and in 1996, Toussaint signed Hamilton to record for his own NYNO (New York/New Orleans) Records label. Hamilton has one album, Larry Hamilton (1997), out on the label. Although many of the songs on Hamilton's debut are Toussaint compositions, future recordings will likely showcase more of Hamilton's original material. ~ Richard Skelly