Tom Hamilton & Holly Bowling Form Lacuna & Announce Self-Titled Debut Album

Lacuna is a new project from guitarist Tom Hamilton and pianist Holly Bowling. The duo featuring the Ghost Light bandmates will release the eponymous Lacuna debut studio album through Royal Potato Family on November 19 and detailed a series of tour dates in support of the LP.

Hamilton and Bowling recorded Lacuna in September 2020 during “one stream of consciousness, completely improvised recording session” at Tom’s The Ballroom studio in Philadelphia while Holly was visiting as part of a cross-country trip. The LP contains eight ambient excursions with no overdubs. “It was all very organic,” Hamilton explained. “We hit save, she left, and we didn’t talk about it.”

The guitarist went back and heard the sessions this past February and knew the music needed to come out. “We were just playing to play,” Bowling added. “I was so intensely missing that spark and connection of playing music with someone else and having that back and forth. It was the happiest I had been in ages, even though the music sounds pretty dark in places, and it was definitely a very dark time. Tapping into that and then getting it out was cathartic.”

The project and album take their name from the title of a book Holly read while quarantining. She found out Lacuna is defined as, “a gap, an unfilled space, or an intentional, extended passage in a musical work during which no notes are played.” Bowling realized it was fitting moniker for what the pair had created.

Lacuna will take the stage at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City on November 26 and at Hamilton’s The Ballroom space in Philadelphia on November 27. From there, the duo heads to Colorado for December shows in Boulder, Beaver Creek and Denver. Bowling and Hamilton also confirmed Lacuna’s San Francisco debut at The Chapel on March 5, 2022 with additional 2022 dates to follow. Tickets for the confirmed concerts are on sale now except the Philadelphia show which sold out immediately.

Watch a video excerpt from the Lacuna recording session:

Lacuna Tracklist

1. Smile Pretty For The Camera
2. This Elevator Goes Up
3. Pavement Grass
4. Your Shadow Looms Large
5. Isosolost
6. The Swimmer
7. Lacuna
8. Exit This Way