Kelley Hunt

Lady sings the blues
By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
2/23/2007

Kelley Hunt road tests new material on concert tour

Roots R&B singer and Kansan pianist Kelley Hunt has some politically-charged material she's been working on lately, and she'll be testing it Friday in a performance at the Cain's Ballroom, .

It takes enough courage to try out new material on the road, Hunt said. But when a recording artist makes a political statement in her new material, that adds to the risk factor.

But the song, from her yet-to-be-finished upcoming album, isn't preachy or dated by any specific event, she said. It's called "Emerald City," a reference to "The Wizard of Oz."

"It's a commentary on 'the emperor has no clothes' kind of thing," she said of the song she recorded Sunday. "It's pretty biting. It's pretty rough. There's flying monkeys involved, all kinds of stuff."

Hunt, who grew up in Emporia, Kan., is often grouped into the blues genre -- not known for its protest songs. However, it isn't her driving ambition to stand out from this group of traditionalists, she said. Instead she lets her earthy and natural music do the talking.

"I just do what I do and let it fall where it falls," Hunt said. If there is a strong blues and rock tinge, "It's certainly not by design. The morecomfortable I am in my own skin, the better it works for me."

Hunt got her start in 2001 following a trip to Nashville and a meeting with Trisha Yearwood's producer, Garth Fundis, Hunt's press materials state. Fundis took her under his wing and her resulting success earned her a spot in the Kansas Music Hall of Fame.

She also has a performed several times on National Public Radio's "A Prairie Home Companion," and at the Austin music festival South by Southwest.

Her last album, "New Shade of Blue" on the label Coda Terra, debuted at No. 9 on Billboard's Blues chart and earned her critical acclaim. The disc features a duet with blues great and Tulsa-favorite Delbert McClinton.

She is label shopping for her new album, which should be out in the late spring or early summer, Hunt said.

Outside of touring about 100 dates a year, Hunt has also been filming a role in an independent film "Bunker Hill," written and directed by Kevin Wilmott, who directed 2004's "CSA: The Confederate States of America."

Opening for Hunt Friday is the Tulsa blues act, Wanda Watson Band.

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KELLEY HUNT

When:
7 p.m. Friday, with opener Wanda Watson Band

Where:
Cain's Ballroom, 423 N. Main St.

Tickets:
$15 in advance, $17 day of show, available at Starship Records & Tapes, Reasor's, www.Gettix.net, Cain's box office, 584-2306.