photo credit: Victoria Stevens
With the warmer weather, we should all be in a more jovial mood and in this mindset, the joyous pop sounds of The Hunts fit right in. These seven siblings specialize in exuberant harmony-driven tunes that sing out like a warm summer day. Their debut album, Those Younger Days comes out on Cherrytree Records/Interscope on June 9th. Intricately woven acoustic string instruments, percussion and tight harmonies give the lead single, “Make This Leap,” a light and bouncy feeling, even though the song lyrically dips into some serious melancholia. However, just as the winter snows melt and the sun shines again, things fortunately end well.
“You called me out from the dark, and brought me into the light.” – Make This Leap
Ranging in ages 17 though 25, The Hunts have all been performing since they were children, brought up in a household filled with music. Their mother, a classically trained violinist, ran a music school, and their father, an arborist, had taught himself to play guitar, which he passed along to his kids. They performed frequently, both with their folks and on their own, in their their hometown of Chesapeake, Virginia, a vibrant musical community. Twin sisters Jessi and Jenni, along with their five brothers Josh, Jonathan, Jordan, Justin and Jamison (born to parents who obviously have a thing for “J-names”) all sang and played violin as youngsters. They added other instruments like piano, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and drums to their arsenal and began writing songs together. Their music has an indie folk and Americana sensibility, with the kind of tightly knit harmonies that seem to only come from blood relatives. They performed at festivals and in theaters around the U.S. and released their debut EP Life Was Simple last August.
For their debut album, they wrote all the songs, and it was recorded in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was produced by Chris Kuffner (A Great Big World, Ingrid Michaelson). The video was filmed in Chesapeake with a few moments shot on the family’s property. It was directed by Michelle Peerali, who has worked with The Black Keys, The Cult and Moby, among others.
As part of their summer U.S. tour, they’ll be performing at the wonderful Cafe 939 on June 22nd.
East Coast Dates
6/16 Annapolis, MD – Rams Head on Stage
6/17 Vienna, VA – Jammin Java
6/19 Dover, DE – Firefly Music Festival
6/21 Philadelphia – World Cafe Upstairs
6/22 Boston, MA – Cafe 939
6/23 New York, NY – Joe’s Pub
From there, The Hunts will be in the Midwest, Colorado, Utah, the Pacific Northwest, LA, etc. See their official site for details.
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