At one point in her decades-long career the MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNEs aid: •surprises don’t often crop up on the
well-trodden blues circuit. So welcome Kelley Hunt. This Kansan is a full-blown phenomenon: powerhouse singer,
hard boogieing pianist polished songwriter.. .• That review serves as perhaps the most economical description of an
artist sometimes difficult to describe. Roots R&B/Americana singer/songwriter/piano player/guitarist KELLEY HUNT
has always been a challenge to the music industry’s penchant for easy artist definitions•· a woman who muscled
her way onto the scene on her own terms with an Identity steeped in blues/roots/gospel traditions and a
refreshing originality. She makes music with It’s righteous roots intact that also crosses boundaries, has an open minded,
exploratory attitude and takes on social and political issues. It’s all delivered with a commanding.
passionate stage presence and superior vocal, keyboard and songwriting skills. So for first-time listeners Kelley
can be a lot to unpack and It might take hearing a good sample of her music to get the full picture.
Born In Kansas City, Hunt’s love for her craft was Ignited listening to early blues, R&B, roots rock, jazz and Gospel
Influences – artists like Ruth Brown, Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holiday, Ann Peebles, Ray Charles, Dinah Washington, Aretha Franklin, Charles Brown, Wanda
Jackson and a cros section of the New Orleans/St. Louis/KC piano traditions of Professor Longhair, Toots Washington, Johnnie Johnson and Kansas City masters
Jay McShann and Mary Lou Williams among others. Before that came the sound of her mother singing Jazz and blues• her first musical memories• and the
Influence of her New Orleans Gospel singer grandmother. You can hear all of the above in her music and see It in a career built on fierce Independence,
Incredible will, unassailable cred and hard-won accomplishment. The narrative Includes 1800+ performances with appearances on a long list of premier North
American and International roots, blues and pan-genre festival stages, six times on American Public Media’s ‘A Prairie Home Companion’, seven critically
acclaimed studio albums and two singles and 150,000+ indie units sold and downloaded on her own label.
Hunt’s most current release, “THE BEAUTIFUL BONES” (2014, EER1406), her 6th and 4th as co-producer, has been universally hailed by press, radio and fans as
the best work of her career. It offers a dozen superbly crafted songs that blend timeless music with a contemporary perspective drawing a bead on modern
life with grace, humor and gravity through the earthy poetry of her lyrics.