"I was taking lessons from a really good guitar teacher named Jim Beeler, and he introduced me to Kenny Burrell and Grant Green and Wes Montgomery and Mark Whitfield.

"[1][full citation needed] While studying at CSUS, Hammond started a band called Chile Palmer.

His recording career as a leader began in 2003 with the album Gauche, followed by Optimism (2004), Sometimes Nocturnal (2005), Ross Hammond's Teakayo Mission (2007), Duets (2008), and Effective Use of Space (2009).

In 2012, he formed the Ross Hammond Quartet with multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia, drummer Alex Cline, and bassist Steuart Liebig.

[6] In addition, he had an artist residency at Northern Arizona University in 2019, and spent a week doing individual lessons and small-group workshops, and also conducted a piece for the NAU large ensemble.