Most people know him as ‘the sign guy,? but Jim Hamblin, 55, will tell you in his heart of hearts he is a musician.
‘I love playing the drums,? said Hamblin, owner of Hamblin Signs, whose father played guitar and clarinet.
When he and his cousin Dan Saxton started to become interested in music, they both originally gravitated towards guitars.
‘I started playing guitar and said ‘I don’t like this.? It was probably because I am left handed and they were probably teaching me backwards,? he said. ‘I just said to my dad ‘I want to play drums.??
The Christmas of 1965 at the age of 12, Hamblin received his first snare drum. ‘Bit by bit? he eventually acquired an entire set and began practicing listening to the Beatles and later Led Zeppelin.
At age 18, he got a job playing drums with a keyboard player and just took off on the road on what he calls a ‘total adventure.?
‘I just looked at it as an adventure. He was with his wife in the car staying in hotels and I was in my step van by myself,? Hamblin said. ‘Colorado or where ever, I’d stay at campgrounds for two bucks a night and I loved it. I had my stereo and I thought this was cool, spent the whole summer playing drums on the road.?
When he came back home he got a job as a bartender working at the Firebird Lounge and slowly began his own moving business, which put his own drumming on the back burner.
‘Bands would come in and out of there and they all had U-Hauls and Ryder vans. I had a step van, so I would just say ‘why don’t you hire me to move your equipment,? Hamblin said. ‘I had close to 20 bands on the books.?
He started working with ITA Agency out of Southfield, which managed some of the bands, including the famous Detroit rock-n-roll band ‘The Rockets.?
‘I had moved their equipment out of the Red Carpet down in Warren. I didn’t know who was in the band. I’d just go over there and set up their equipment, leave and when they were done, go back and pick their stuff up,? he said. Then I heard through the grapevine who is in that band, which was Johnny Bee and Jim McCarty, and I knew who they were, so that was pretty impressive, then I found out the lead singer was Dave Gilbert I said ‘I know Dave. I grew up a mile from him on Union Lake.??
When the Rockets came out with their first album, they said they needed a crew. Hamblin considered joining up. The Rockets first show was at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles. When ITA manager Gary Lazar realized all of it was too much to handle by himself and said he needed a road manager. Hamblin gladly volunteered.
‘I jumped in with both feet and said I can handle this,? he said. ‘I was also the youngest guy including the crew in the whole thing. Everybody was older than me.?
He was with The Rockets for four years, two as a drum tech and two as manager. He eventually quit the band for a couple reasons. He knew he wanted a family and he missed playing the drums.
‘Thirty years ago I started drumming again and been drumming ever since,? he said.
He has played with various bands over the years. He has played with the latest band Urban Nomads for eight years.
After quitting The Rockets, Hamblin enrolled into an art class at Oakland Community College and began thinking what he could do to make a living that was when he considered opening his own sign shop, which has been in business for 30 years.
‘I had made little signs and won poster board awards when I was a kid, so I knew it was something I could kind of do, but I didn’t really know how to be a sign guy,? he said. ‘If you got to make a living doing something, at least it involved some sort of creativity. That’s what people like about it, it’s not to cut and dry, they know I will put some thought into it and make it look right.?
Hamblin said he also likes being self-employed.
‘I’m not the type of person who can work for anybody very easily,? he said. ‘Not because I don’t get along with people, but just because I like to be 100 percent in control of what I am doing.?
Hamblin was born in New Market Ontario, moved here as a child and grew up in Union Lake.
‘My whole family, except my youngest sister, is all Canadians.?
Though life has thrown some trials Hamblin’s way, he remains positive. He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis eight years ago, but said he knew it before it was confirmed.
‘I knew I had Optic Neuritis 15 years ago, that’s the first thing people with MS get,? he said. I lost my brother Steve three years younger than me, six years ago, and my sister Anne about year older than me 5 years ago who both had rapid MS.?
Though things could be better, he also says things could be worse.
‘I got this wonderful wife, two wonderful kids, three wonderful step kids, two wonderful step grandkids, and a beautiful home,? he said. ‘I have a lot to be happy about, I really do.?
Friends and family had a surprise tribute to Hamblin last month called ‘Jammin with Jim Hamblin? at the Oakland County Sportsman’s Club.
‘I walked into the main room and there were 300 people there standing up clapping. I was totally flabbergasted,? he said. ‘Obviously I was crying my eyes out.?
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, The Rockets, and Charlie Martin were all there to perform that night. He also got to meet one of his ‘drummer idols,? 5-year old Julian Pavone, ‘The world’s youngest drummer.?
‘It was world class entertainment, Pine Knob entertainment, to come to play at my party, I didn’t know I had that kind of pull,? Hamblin said with a laugh. ‘That was just really cool and it just made me feel good to know I have that many friends and people want to help me out with this, that, and the other thing because I never ask for anything.?
Hamblin Signs has been in the same location of 6696 Dixie Highway for the past 30 years.