This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 12, 2011 - Vocalist/pianist/songwriter Kelley Hunt was born in and grew up in the Kansas City area. But her musical roots really spring from St. Louis. Although Hunt grew up listening to her mother singing jazz and blues - as well as to her grandmother, who was a gospel singer - it was the music of Chuck Berry that captured the heart.
More specifically, it was the sound of Berry's piano player, Johnnie Johnson that captured young Kelley's attention from the age of 6 on. She focused on playing the piano and singing throughout her childhood, with an eye on becoming a professional musician.
Hunt released her first recording in 1995, and soon appearances at St. Louis clubs and festivals became a regular part of her touring schedule. Invariably, her St. Louis performances included visits with Johnson and his wife, Frances - as well as sharing the stage with Johnson for impromptu keyboard sessions.
Hunt recalls meeting Johnson for the first time at a New Year's Eve performance early in her career. As she explained in a recent phone interview, that initial meeting came about through her manager making her wish to play with Johnson a reality.
"The first time I met Johnnie was quite a few years ago when my manager set up a New Year's Eve concert for me in Lawrence, Kan.," says Hunt. "He asked me who would be one of my dream artists to play with that night, and I said right off the bat, 'Johnnie Johnson.' He made it happen, and we became friends right from the start."
Hunt and Johnson actually met and played together even before that New Year's concert, at a photo session to promote the show.
"We first met doing a press event," recalls Hunt. "And we ended up sitting down at the piano for a photo. Johnnie said to me, 'Let's play. You take the left hand and I'll take the right hand.' Well, the rest of the room just melted away for the next half hour. He became my mentor ... and my very good friend."
Hunt returns to St. Louis for the first time in several years this Friday evening. She'll be playing a 7 p.m. concert at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups to promote her the release of her latest recording, Gravity Loves You.
Hunt's latest CD sounds like her best yet - which is high praise considering the quality of her 2009 release, Mercy. Hunt's songwriting shines on powerful, moving compositions like "Deep Old Love," "This Fall," "In the End" and the title cut. And she proves she can still shine on the keyboard as well - with dynamic inspired playing throughout.
But it's Hunt's vocals that really steal the spotlight on Gravity Loves You. Her voice soars and swoops - something she does often in concert, but that hasn't really been captured in the studio before.
For Hunt, the strong vocals on the new recording are just part of a refocused creative approach that first started to emerge on Mercy - and that has blossomed fully on Gravity Loves You.
"A lot of things fed into this project," explains Hunt. "With Mercy, I took a shift in how I was approaching my career. I decided first of all that the songwriting had to be the main focus for me. I think that's always been the case in my mind. But a lot of people just don't associate that aspect - creating the songs - with me. So that became a main emphasis.
"In addition, I also decided not to be too overly concerned going into the studio with worrying too much about what was going to be on the record. I wanted to just make sure that what did finally get released made it the best record possible."
That approach went against the method that Hunt had always used in studio recording previous to Mercy - especially in terms of her singing.
"When I was in the studio before, I ended up being more careful with my voice in terms of what I sang," states Hunt. "Part of that was because I've always recorded analog instead of digital, because I love the warmth of that sound. But that means recording on two-inch tape. If you make a mistake, it's more difficult in terms of the editing process. So a good part of the time, I didn't want to mess up the recording by taking chances with my vocals.
"But now, I've changed my approach - and it's really part of a whole different way of looking at life," concludes Hunt. I've always let my voice go where it wants to go live, and this time, I took that leap of faith and took that approach in the studio, too. You've got to take a risk and go where your soul is pulling you. In the end, you've got to live the life you're meant to live. You've got to just take that step and do it ... Do it."
Terry Perkins is a freelance writer who has long covered music.
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