Eva Hunter got her first taste of the stage
as a singing sibling in the Hunter Sisters when she was in her
early teens. The native of Athens, Ill., has worked as a solo act
for several years now, producing four original CDs in the last five
years.
Hunter’s road has not been paved with
gold or any other precious metal; rather, the time-tested virtues
of tenacity and perseverance, along with a dose of luck, have kept
Hunter’s career on a path of steady success.
Fancy Prairie
(2000), a
buoyant collection of Hunter originals and songs penned by friends,
was Hunter’s
debut recording. Hunter hit the Midwest coffeehouse circuit, making
fans with her energetic live solo performances and keeping them
through her Web-site-generated e-mail list. As the fanbase grew and
her talent developed, Hunter added more players to the mix, and
they evolved into the Eva Hunter Band. Musicians have come and
gone, more because of scheduling conflicts than because of musical
differences, but Edwin Pierce on guitar, Clay Thompson on bass, and
Jun Mikami on violin have remained as a core. With the recent
addition of veteran Springfield drummer Donnie Dobbins, the lineup
is complete.
After the release of Fancy Prairie (named for a
small town and farming community north of Athens) Hunter immediately began working on another studio
effort with longtime collaborator Ric Major of Middle Option Music. In
the interim they released two live discs, ButcherTown and A Crazy Moon Ride, allowing fans to hear Hunter material without
spoiling the surprise of the new production. Major moved his recording
studio into a larger space in February 2004, and the two began tweaking
the fresh batch of songs. After recording basic tracks with
Hunter’s steady band, they painstakingly added layers of
intriguing sounds by tapping into the pool of local players. The result
is Thirsty, a
sweeping musical panorama of taste and beauty that blends jazz, folk,
rock, and country into a seamless collection of poignant songs, a
perfect vehicle with which to drive home the sultry urgency of
Hunter’s emotive voice.
The CD, released in fall of 2004 on
Major’s Middle Option Music, is available at Hunter’s
Web site (www.evahunter.com) and at performances.
Eva Hunter opens for Roger McGuinn at the
Hoogland Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 2. After the
solo performance, the Eva Hunter Band convenes at Norb Andy’s
(518 Capitol Ave., 217-523-7777) for an 11 p.m.-2 a.m.
afterconcert show.
This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2005.
