Blues and R&B singer and talented pianist Kelly Hunt returns to the Arrowhead Center for the Arts July 13. Ticket sales open at 6:30 p.m. at the ACA or you can order them online at www.tix.com (search Arrowhead Center for the Arts). Photo courtesy of Kate Fitzgerald
The North Shore Music Association announces the return of Kelley Hunt, forward thinking songwriter and pioneer in the blues, roots, and gospel traditions whose unflappable will, blazing talent as a live performer, powerhouse voice, and spellbinding mastery of the keys have earned her the respect of thousands of devoted fans across North America and Europe.
With over 1,500 performances to her name, six guest appearances on A Prairie Home Companion, and consistent high praise from critics, Hunt is one of those rare independent artists who have forged their own path to great success.
Born in Kansas City, Hunt grew up listening to her mother singing jazz and blues and her New Orleans-based grandmother singing gospel. Early on, she immersed herself in the music of early-blues, R&B, roots-rock, jazz, and gospel artists such as Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Dinah Washington, Aretha Franklin, and Wanda Jackson, and a cross-section of the New Orleans/St. Louis/Kansas City pianists, including Professor Longhair, Toots Washington, and Johnnie Johnson. While these influences are all evident in Kelley’s music, her lyrics, soul, and passion are all her own.
The Twin Cities’ City Pages calls Kelley “a powerful singer with a huge reservoir of blues and R&B muscle [who] can singe your eyebrows with a ballad or full-tilt boogie,” “a rollicking pianist” and “a superior songwriter with a knack for going for the musical jugular.”
The Pitch describes her as “an independent firecracker who melds blues, roots and R&B with soulful vocals, savvy songwriting and smash-a-bottle-and-dance on-the-bar piano virtuosity.” Bob Margolin of Blues Review writes, “When Aretha Franklin broke out in the late ‘60s, generations of women singers were inspired to follow her. Kelley Hunt delivers that same kind of spirit and vocal chops, but in her own voice and without imitation.”
Kelley Hunt and her band will perform at 7:30 p.m. on July 13 at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts in Grand Marais. Tickets are general admission, $20 adults and $10 youth (18 and under), on sale in advance at www.tix.com (search “Arrowhead Center for the Arts”) and at the door starting at 6:30 p.m. This activity is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature’s general and arts and cultural heritage funds.
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