The Center for the Arts at Monmouth University has announced that tickets are now on sale for an exclusive area appearance by the “alternative folk” band The Hunts.
Scheduled for Friday, October 26, the one-night engagement is presented as part of the 2018-2019 Performing Arts Series at Monmouth’s Pollak Theatre. The 8 p.m. event further stands as the area debut for the young group whose momentum extends from the virtual marketplace of Spotify (more than 14 million streams and counting), to the brick-and-mortar stages of Red Rocks, Firefly and Summerfest — and whose seven skilled musicians also happen to be brothers and sisters.
With the kind of pedigree that comes from being raised in a musically minded household — and a deeply rooted affinity for classic Americana sounds — The Hunts represent something that’s both refreshingly new, and old as the hills of their native Virginia.
Spotlighting lead vocals by guitarist Josh Hunt and violinist Jenni Hunt, the band’s lineup of multi-instrumentalists is completed by Jenni’s twin sister Jessi (viola, banjo), Jonathan (keyboards), Jordan (drums), Justin (bass) and Jamison (mandolin). All of the Hunt brothers and sisters — and yes, they all share the same initials — contribute their vocal harmonies to a lovingly crafted project that’s been honed by a decade of touring, and a literal collective lifetime of working together.
Growing up close-knit and home-schooled in the Chesapeake home of their mom (herself a classically trained violinist and music teacher) and dad (a self-taught guitarist, expert soundman, and official gig driver), the seven Hunts developed a musical wisdom and sense of songcraft beyond their young years, qualities that were more than evident when they began to shop a homemade demo recording around to the labels. Fueled by their impressive debut single “Make This Leap,” their EP “Life Was Simple” impressed industry observers and new listeners to the extent that those earlier tracks were subsequently issued officially as the album “We Were Young.”
The Interscope-distributed “Those Younger Days” followed in 2015, and in 2017 the siblings reconvened in the studio with Grammy winning indie rock producer Peter Katis for the sessions that would become their third full length album. Having matured tremendously as players — and with some of the siblings now raising families of their own — The Hunts have spent much of 2018 on the road, in support of that most recent release “Darlin’ Oh Darlin’.” Advanced by the upbeat single “Along the Way,” the album is a signature family affair, from the siblings’ collaborative compositional symbiosis, to the choral harmonies, intricate instrumental interplay, and millennial musical savvy that finds natural bridges between centuries-old reels and hypercurrent alterna-pop.
As has been their fan-friendly policy for years, the band has augmented the itinerary of festival, concert hall and college shows with the intimate living-room and back-yard gatherings that have established a very special bond between the Hunt family and their ardent listeners. When The Hunts take the stage of the recently renovated Pollak, they’ll be keyed in to a timeline that’s made Monmouth’s flagship performance space into one of the region’s premier places for acoustic music. And, whether they’re doing their thing inside an auditorium, outdoors within a sea of festivalgoers, or up on your neighbor’s back porch, these next-generation folk music standard bearers have the stuff that can transform any size venue into a gathering of friends.
Tickets for the October 26 concert featuring The Hunts are priced at $25 and $35, with a Gold Circle seating option of $50, and can be reserved through the Monmouth University Performing Arts Box Office at 732-263-6889, or online atwww.monmouth.edu/MCA Tickets for other upcoming Performing Arts events — including the classic rock Gypsy stylings of Terry Ilous and the Vagabonds (October 19), and the “Alienation Klezmer” collaboration of singer-poet Daniel Kahn with The Painted Bird (November 13) — are also on sale now. To schedule interviews, please contact Kelly Barratt at 732-263-5114.
