James Hunter was not an overnight success. He spent years paying his dues in the pub circuit of England and Germany and releasing records on a small label, trying to break through. Things were looking a little grim until Van Morrison discovered him singing at a hotel owned by a mutual friend in 1989. After that, Hunter’s career took off. Morrison took him on tour in the early 1990s, and Hunter would appear on two Morrison albums in the mid-90s. Hunter’s unique, soulful voice and throwback style made his first major release, 1996’s People Gonna Talk, a big hit. “It was a welcome change of pace when we got discovered by the Americans,” Hunter said. Sometimes it’s the small things that make you realize how far you’ve come. “After it had been out a few months, a mate of mine who lives Camden heard somebody next to him on the tube whistling it and he was dying to tell him, ‘My mate wrote that!’ When you get the milkman whistling your songs, that’s when you know you’ve cracked it.”
Twenty years later, Hunter is about to release his eleventh record, Off The Fence, due out on January 16 via Easy Eye Sound. The album is a gem, right up there with his other hits. In a world of Autotune and overwrought production, it’s a breath of fresh air, old school R &B meets the Daptones. Hunter’s voice and guitar are front and center, but the rest of his band, The James Hunter Six, really shines as well. Morrison appears on the catchy recent single “Ain’t That A Trip” with Hunter joking, “I still owe him 15 quid for that.” Another single “A Sure Thing” has a Motown kind of jump. The thoroughly English Hunter has found happiness with his wife Jessie, a New Jersey native (Exit 100!), and that is reflected in his writing, including the timeless love song, “Here And Now.” Not surprisingly, Hunter admits doesn’t listen to much modern music when he is in the creative mode.
When asked about the progression of his music, the affable Hunter said, “I think I’ve reached March 1964 with this one. I might be exaggerating; it might be still February. Stylistically, I’ve gone for a couple of different feels. I wrote one that one of the guys in the band said, ‘You’ve written a standard.’ That’s alright, I like that. It’s one we wrote called ‘Particular’. I was really going for that Great American Songbook vibe, but with a kind of dour British mood for it.”
Hunter is obviously an old soul, creating tunes that would fit on a playlist with the likes of Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, and Ray Charles.
“It wasn’t current when I was a kid. There were a couple of oldies stations or special shows that did it. It was music of a particular period that appealed to me because of its directness and simplicity. I think was into it for different reasons other than some people. I think people who have the similar taste to me would wither on about how innocent and all of that. I’m not interested in the innocence. The only innocence I’m interested in is the lack of sophistication. When that knowingness crept in, it kind of clouded it up a little bit for me. I find older styles a little punchier. Like old films that rattle along at a pace. You watch an old film, it’s bang, bang, bang, bang.”
Hunter will be rattling around Europe in January and February to support the new album, one destined to delight his many fans.
The James Hunter Six featuring Van Morrison “Ain’t That A Trip”:
The James Hunter Six “A Sure Thing”:
The James Hunter Six “Here And Now”:
James Hunter “People Gonna Talk”:
You can SEE Dave Popkin's entire interview with James Hunter below:
