KevinHammond was one of those quiet, preternaturally talented, sensitive kids whowalked around with his head in the clouds. And even though he’s nowtwenty-five, not all that much has changed. The singer-songwriter still spendsa lot of time in his own head, dreaming about a world in which music is nevercynical, always emotional and inspiring, and there’s that one perfect girl toshare it with. “I know that the world isn’t a perfect place,” Hammond says,laughing. “But I like to keep that ideal in mind because it helps you expresssomething that we all share, and that’s everything. The point of my music is tocommunicate something that we all feel but can’t necessarily say. I have tosing it, though, I can’t just say it.”  With the Summer 2011 release ofhis debut album One of a Kind,Hammond does just that.

Born and raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin by his father, abarber, and his mother, who works with the elderly, Hammond was the third ofseven kids.  “I have two oldersisters and two younger sisters,” Hammond explains, “so I was in between abunch of girls, surrounded by Barbie dolls.” The Hammond family was atight-knit one and the singer still counts his mom and dad as two of hisclosest friends. But while his sisters played with dolls and his brothers playedvideo games, Hammond played music, a propensity he picked up from his father.By day Hammond’s dad would cut hair, but by night he’d play selections from hisvast vinyl collection (songs by Joe Satriani and the Beatles and the Who werefavorites). “I remember the first song I ever loved,” Hammond recalls. “It wassome weird piece of instrumental music my dad had on vinyl called Celestial Soda Pop or something likethat. I would listen to and figure out how to play it on the keyboard.” On theweekends, Mr. Hammond, who plays electric guitar and drums, would have hisfriends over to rock out. “I’d fall asleep to the sounds of them jamming allthe time,” the singer remembers. The noise sunk in, and by the time Hammond wasten he was writing his own music. “My dad has some early recordings of me thatI don’t want anyone ever to hear,” the singer says, laughing.

Hammond eventually moved onto more contemporary stuff, butbecause his understanding of song structure was so highly developed at such anearly age, he treated other musicians’ work as an instruction manual on how tomake the sounds in his head. Tears For Fears, U2 and later, Third Eye Blind,Coldplay, and Gavin DeGraw were all influences, he was drawn to artists whofavored sincerity and simple beauty over irony and layered complexity. Bysixteen, Hammond had written what he considers his first real song, “Baby,” atrack he still plays, but he was still unsure about how to translate hispassion for music into anything resembling a career. After graduating highschool, Hammond decided to move to Minnesota where several of his friends wereattending college.  “I went just tohang out with them,” Hammond remembers. “But whenever I get a job I have to doit better than everyone. Even if that job is partying. So I chain-smoked anddrank and wasted my life for a year.”

Bored and disillusioned, Hammond eventually found himselfback Wisconsin, staying on a friends couch. He got his life together, quit theparty scene, and started working odd jobs before landing a regular gig as amanager at Hollister, where he rose quickly. Next thing he knew, a year and ahalf had passed and he had an apartment, a full-time, demanding job, and asteady girlfriend. That’s when he decided to give it all up to live in a van andplay music. “I was so exhausted,” Hammond remembers. “I knew that I wanted todo music but I didn’t have time. I mean, I was right on the verge of getting anew car, moving into a new apartment, buying a ring for my girlfriend and I wasjust thinking, do I want all this stuff? Do I want to end up married andworking retail in Wisconsin for the rest of my life? No. So one night I justdecided I was going to do music. The next day I quit my job, moved out of myapartment, traded my car for van, put mattress in the back and started livingthere. I just knew it was the first step, and I was right. After that,everything started falling into place.”

Hammond borrowed a friends’ recording equipment and laiddown a few of his melodic pop tracks, which he then put up on MySpace. Aftersome hardcore self-marketing he eventually got a hit: Colbie Caillat’sproducer, Mikal Blue, started calling. He wanted to fly Hammond out to LA towork on some demos. Even though this was exactly the call Hammond had beenwaiting for, at first he didn’t believe it was real. “I was like, I don’t knowwhat’s happening, who are you?” the singer remembers. “But I flew to LA thenext weekend. It was the first plane I’d ever been on. I mean, my family waspoor – nine people in a four-bedroom house, that plane ride was pretty intense.Mikal’s girlfriend picked me up at the airport in this brand new convertibleBMW then drove me down the Pacific Coast Highway. I was like, are youserious?” 

Blue was very serious. Hammond was initially supposed tostay in LA for two days. Instead he stayed for several years. “All I had withme was a backpack with like one pair of jeans in it,” Hammond remembers. “WhenI sang for Mikal he was like ‘I didn’t think you were going to be that good forreal,’ and then he asked me to stay. So I did.” First Hammond worked with Blueon writing songs for other artists, and then eventually they began sortingthrough the tracks that became One of aKind. “Just As I Thought” is a dreamy pop gem about the intersection of optimismand reality. “The Way That You Move” is a delicate ode to idealized, perfectlove that would be welcome on any crush-inspired mixtape. And lead single“Broken Down” is a catchy-but-operatic showcase for Hammond’s remarkable voice,at once agile and powerful.

Now based in New York City, Hammond still gets back toWisconsin to see his parents, and he visits his sister and her husband in LApretty regularly, but the singer is happiest onstage, communicating with hisfans. “I like every place I go,” he says. “It would be different if I changedor felt like a different person depending on the city I’m in, but I don’t. I’mthe same everywhere I go. If I’m in Wisconsin I’m like, ‘Hey these are the peopleI know here.’ And if I go to LA I’m like, ‘Oh these are the people I know here.’I can’t be traveling from place to place and be stressed about missing home. Ihave to make every place I go feel like home.”