Hazel Basil is a soft animal, reminding you that you, too, are a soft animal. After realizing she was transgender in 2022, Hazel felt an immense surge of love for her community and music, and has been sharing her work ever since. Hazel has performed at venues across New England, including the Iron Horse, the Academy of Music, and Club Passim. Hazel hopes that the self-acceptance and love she encourages through her work leads audiences to find more space for complexity, compassion, and joy- because in the face of oppression, our joy is more important than ever.
Hazel's first album, recorded in her home, is called Herbs and Grains, and explores topics from heartbreak to gender envy. The content of her creative vision has since sharpened to focus on the power found in community, radical self-love, and healing the unavoidable traumas of living a caring human life. Her most recent release, Breathe, was Hazel's debut live performance, hosted at Easthampton Cityspace as a part of their 2025 Pay it Forward program.
Her next project, a debut studio album, is currently in the fundraising stage. With this album, she asks: What parts of you do you welcome? What parts of yourself remain unwelcomed? She seeks to show you that even those most shadowed parts of yourself deserve a warm welcome, and a Place by the Fire.
Hazel is also known for her work playing jazz guitar and upright bass for INDE, and her work playing punk folk lead guitar for High Tea.
