I was able to give “Eclectic Circus” a spin yesterday and I offer hearty congratulations! I love the overall sound and feel of this project…It’s very much you, the compassionate, lighthearted Hali, through thick and thin. When art is authentic, it’s undeniable.

The arrangements are very musical and I hear a strain of old timey, vaudeville, music-hall sound throughout…very catchy. I wish you much luck with this work, Hali…your fans and following will love it! All good thoughts. — David Maloney (singer/songwriter/performer and part of the duo Reilly and Maloney)

I’ve been wanting to tell you how much I enjoyed listening to your new CD. You should be proud. It really captures all the warmth and love that you put into your music. Congrats and mazel tov! — Beth Berkelhammer (SF Folk Club folknik reviews)

THANKS for the CD and letting me be a part of it.  It’s the BEST thing you’ve done yet-GREAT songs in a what feels like intimate production with a touch of Phil Spector-GRAND!! — JD Smith (keyboards on “Will I Dream”)

I love it…it’s wonderful! — Nina Fendel (National Lawyers Guild)

Loved the CD! — Gary Kanter (co-host of “We Do The Work” on KSVR-FM 91.7, Mt. Vernon, WA)

HALI HAMMER, Eclectic Circus. So new, the dew is still on the petals! Eclectic Circus offers 13 of Hali’s original songs (plus one with help from Tom Paxton). Several evoke people and experiences from her youth, and lessons learned (“Mrs. Bogaty”, “Summer Country Girl”, “She Sang Him Bottle of Wine”); others are tributes to some of the people she loves (“Every Time That I’m With You”, “My Dad”, “She’s Something Else”, “Angels Without Wings”). All convey Hammer’s down-to-earth perspective and personality – optimistic but grounded, working for justice, full of gratitude, playful and ready to laugh (“Interesting Times”, “In a World Gone Mad”, “Married Missionary’). Song styles cover the gamut. Hali: bass, rhythm guitar, vocals; Randy Berge: lead acoustic and electric guitars; Paul Herzoff: harmonica; Allen Perkins: drums; and a host of fine instrumentalists and backing singers filling out the sound and enhancing the songs. — The folknik, Volume LI, Number 3, Reviews & News page 4, May/June 2015

On my drive to and from LA over Labor Day I listened to Hali Hammer’s recent CD , Eclectic Circus . I was deeply moved by her lyrical descriptions of emotional states one can’t easily describe : whether the soaring sense of joy in a new love in “I feel good again”, or the complex feelings for her father (“My Dad”), or the hilarious mismatch of refinding an old love (“Married Missionary). Her songs relate to growing up in NYC , where a neighbor comes out of the Polish death camps, or in other songs where she plays her music for the homeless and spends summers in the country (“city life, it was a different world, but in summertime, I was a country girl.”) Check out her website. Buy her CD – it will bring you tremendous pleasure. – Susan Sherrell