Van Hunt
(born March 8, 1970) [1] is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He released his debut album, Van Hunt
, in 2004, and a follow-up, On the Jungle Floor
, in 2006, both on Capitol Records. He won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for appearing on the tribute version of the Sly & the Family Stone song, "Family Affair", in 2007. He transitioned to Blue Note Records where his 2008 album, Popular
, was shelved and never released. He self-released the compilation album Use In Case of Emergency
in 2009.
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VAN HUNT TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Hunt was born in
Dayton, Ohio and raised by his single mother. His father, Van Hunt, Sr., was a factory worker and part-time painter, who was a friend of
Ohio Players drummer Jimmy "Diamond" Williams. Hunt took up the
drums at age 7, and
saxophone at the age of 8, later adding
bass and
keyboards.
[2] Guitar was the last instrument he learned to play; he played guitar in a rock band called Royalty. Hunt moved to
Texas for a short time before relocating to
Atlanta, Georgia in 1996 to attend
Morehouse College, where he studied English, but soon dropped out.
[3] In Atlanta, he started producing a few hip-hop
demos for Atlanta rappers in order to pay bills. Hunt met up-and-coming record producers and artists like
Dallas Austin,
Jermaine Dupri and
TLC through his work on demos.
Career
Early career
Hunt wrote and co-produced the song "Hopeless" for singer
Dionne Farris, formerly of
Arrested Development, and joined her band on guitar and keyboards. "Hopeless" appeared on the soundtrack for the film
Love Jones
(1997). Hunt co-wrote several songs with
Rahsaan Patterson on his album
Love in Stereo
(1999), and co-wrote with
Cree Summer, including the song "Mean Sleep", for her album
Street Faërie
(1999), produced by
Lenny Kravitz. He also collaborated with
Joi on the single "Missing You" (2002). Through Dionne Farris, Hunt met
A&R person
Randy Jackson (who later went on to be a judge on
Fox's American Idol
). Jackson would become Hunt's manager in 2002.
Capitol Records
Hunt recorded much of the material from his debut album in 2000. Producer Dallas Austin took Hunt's recording to
Capitol Records, leading him to sign with the label in 2001. Hunt's first album,
Van Hunt
, was released in February 2004. The album included the singles "Down Here in Hell (With You)", "Dust", and "Seconds of Pleasure", and was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance. Hunt's second album,
On the Jungle Floor
, was released in 2006. The album featured the single, "Character," a revisited "Mean Sleep", as a duet with
Nikka Costa, and a cover of "No Sense of Crime" by
The Stooges. The album was co-produced by
Bill Bottrell. Hunt has toured and appeared with
Mary J. Blige,
Alicia Keys,
Boney James,
The Roots,
Seal,
Angie Stone,
Coldplay,
The Brand New Heavies, the
Dave Matthews Band, and
Kanye West.
In 2006, Hunt appeared with Nikka Costa on the
Sam Moore album,
Overnight Sensational
, on the song "If I Had No Loot". Hunt was also featured on "Half the Fun", a track on the
Count Bass D album,
Act Your Waist Size
, released on Fat Beats Records.
in 2007, Hunt won a
Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, along with
John Legend and
Joss Stone, for their cover of the
Sly & the Family Stone song, "
Family Affair", which appeared on the 2006 tribute album
Different Strokes By Different Folks
. Hunt described winning the award as "one of the bigger pleasures I've had" to
The Athens Blur Magazine
in 2009.
Blue Note
Hunt released the 4 track digital EP,
The Popular Machine
, on August 7, 2007. Hunt announced a full length album,
Popular
, to be released on
Blue Note Records on January 15, 2008.
[4] Hunt moved from Atlanta to
Los Angeles in 2007 while the album was nearing completion.
[5] Blue Note had taken over Hunt’s recording contract after corporate restructuring at Blue Note and Capitol's parent company,
EMI. In December 2007, Blue Note announced that they would not be releasing the album, and that Hunt and the label mutually agreed to part ways.
[6] Hunt wrote on his
MySpace blog in January 2008, that he couldn't promise that
Popular
would ever be officially released.
[7] Blue Note owns the
master recordings and opted not to sell it back to him at an affordable price. Hunt commented that he "didn't think that they had enough money" to promote the album properly.
[8] LA Weekly
called the album an "appealingly trippy fusion of funk grooves, punk guitar and soul vocals", and "a left-field stunner".
Hunt told the
Atlanta alternative weekly newspaper
Creative Loafing
that he was "devastated" when the label decided not to release the album.
[9]
Independent
As of June 2008, Hunt was recording a fourth album,
[10] which he plans to release himself and
market using the
Internet. Hunt has
blogged about his new approach on his
MySpace page.
[11] Hunt toured the U.S. in July and August 2008. He released
Use In Case Of Emergency
, a compilation of
demos,
remixes and
B-sides recorded between 1997 and 2005, through his Web site in May 2009.
Hunt has also been working on autobiographical book of short stories titled
Tales of Friction
.
[12] In July 2009, Hunt told
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
that he plans to release one more album and tour once more, but doesn't know what his plans are after that.
[13] Hunt anticipates a February 2010 release date for his new album.
[14]
Influences
- David Bowie
- Serge Gainsbourg
- The Isley Brothers
- Curtis Mayfield
- Thelonious Monk
- The Ohio Players
- Iggy Pop
- Prince
- Richard Pryor
- Sly Stone
- Neil Young
Discography
Albums
- Van Hunt
(2004), Capitol
- On the Jungle Floor
(2006), Capitol
- Popular
(2008) - unreleased studio album
Compilations
- Use In Case of Emergency
(2009), self-released - collection of outtakes
EPs
- Acoustic E.P.
(2004), Capitol - digital EP
- Napster Sessions
(2004), Capitol - digital EP
- Connect Set
(2006), Capitol - digital EP
- The Popular Machine
(2007), Blue Note - digital EP
Singles
- "Down Here in Hell (With You)" (2004), Capitol
- "Dust" (2004), Capitol
- "Seconds of Pleasure" (2004), Capitol
- "Character" (2006), Capitol
- "Being A Girl" (2006), Capitol
Awards and nominations
- 2005 Grammy Award nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Dust."
- 2006 Grammy Award win for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Family Affair"
References
- Hackett, Will (2009). "Hunting for Goodness". ''The Athens Blur Magazine'', issue 9, p. 23
- Foster, Saptosa (September 30, 2004). "Good Van Hunting ". ''Creative Loafing Atlanta''. Retrieved on December 8, 2007.
- Suggs, Kimberly. "Unleashed: On the Floor with Van Hunt". ''Juicy Magazine''. Retrieved on December 7, 2007.
- Concepcion, Mariel (July 19, 2007). "Van Hunt Feeling 'Popular' On Blue Note". ''Billboard''. Retrieved on July 21, 2007.
- Wood, Mikael (May 13, 2009). "Screwed By Blue Note, Van Hunt Still Rocks. And Funks. With Soul". ''LA Weekly''. Retrieved on May 15, 2009.
- Goldmeier, Jeremy (December 4, 2007). "Van Hunt and EMI Split, New Album Without A Label". ''Paste Magazine''. Retrieved on December 7, 2007.
- Hunt, Van (January 15, 2008). "Popular(ity) Contest". Myspace. Retrieved on January 22, 2008.
- Williams, DeMarco (March 19, 2008)."Van Hunt: Watch for the hook". ''Creative Loafing Atlanta''. Retrieved on March 19, 2008.
- Williams, DeMarco (June 29, 2009). "Van Hunt takes the Emergency exit after Blue Note's blowjob". ''Creative Loafing Atlanta''. Retrieved on July 6, 2009.
- Wikane, Christian John (June 30, 2008). "Dispatches From the Battlefield: An Interview With Van Hunt". Pop Matters. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.
- Mays, Mark (July 11, 2008). "Van Hunt takes his eclectic soul career into his own hands". ''The Tennessean''. Retrieved on July 11, 2008.
- Eldredge, Richard L. (July 3, 2009). "Peach Buzz". ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution''. Retrieved on July 6, 2006.
- Rhone, Nedra (July 3, 2009). "Singer goes own way". ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution''. Retrieved on July 6, 2006.
- Sikandar, Seher (August 17, 2009) "Van Hunt Finds the Music In Moaning and Paying Bills". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved on August 23, 2009.