Kelley Hunt-The Beautiful Bones CD

Kelley Hunt

The McPherson Opera House

By Lydia Lowe
(photo's by Bob Hunter)

     What do you get when you mix together the following musical styles: blues, jazz, rock, country, boogie woogie, gospel, r & b; then you add in a guitar (electric and acoustic), drums, a bass guitar, a keyboard, a Hammond B3, and oh yeah, killer vocals?  You get Kelley Hunt.  This was one of the best shows that I've attend in quite some time.  And the McPherson Opera House had the show.

     What could be better-Kelley Hunt and her band performing songs from her newly released CD entitled The Beautiful Bones, at The McPherson Opera House.  The acoustics in the building became part of the band as Kelley's voice resounded throughout the building.  The majority of the songs that she sang were from her newly released CD, released on May 20, 2014.  But she managed to splice in a few songs from her other CD's, too.  One of my new favorites that she sang from one of her older CD's was the song Gravity Loves You.  I can't get that song out of my mind.  It's competing with a variety of other songs she sang on Saturday night.  Another one of my new favorites is the song Just Like Oxygen.  I just can't get her music out of my head.  It's followed me around all weekend and into the beginning of the week.

     Primarily Saturday night's show was about the songs from the new CD, The Beautiful Bones.  The title track was written after all the songs for the CD had been written and studio time scheduled, or so Kelley thought at the time.  Then one winter's day at the beginning of the year, when we had that 14 inch snow, everyone remembers that one, Kelley was looking out her kitchen window and saw one of the trees in her yard looking so graceful with all the leaves gone.  It had beautiful bones and looked like a hand reaching for the sky.  The title song wrote itself very quickly after that and within 30 minutes she had the title track for her CD.  She sang this song during her concert and it brought a tear to my eye.  It was so haunting, beautiful and hopeful, yet sad and full of longing.

     Kelley's songs are not what you'd typically expect from a blues artist.  Her style is very distinctive and all her own.  I'd say it would be impossible for someone to copy it.  It just couldn't be done.  I don't think there's a definitive label that you could even put on her style.  She started the evening out with The Golden Hour, transitioned into This Time, and then it was on to Simplify; all from the new CD.  After that the hits just kept coming, each unique and different in its own right.  It was a terrific evening.

     Go to her website: Kelley Hunt and click on the audio tab to hear some of the new songs from The Beautiful Bones CD.  You'll be glad you did.