James Hunter Six Comes to City Winery Boston This Month

The eponymous James Hunter Six comes to City Winery Boston, bringing its distinct R&B vibe to town Sunday June 18th.  Tickets and information are available at citywineryboston.com.

Known for his iconic, reedy tenor voice and signature phrasing, James Hunter has worked on the railway, busked in the streets of London, and provided backup vocals and guitar for Van Morrison. Over his career, he’s  also played clubs and theaters all over the world, written scores of original songs, and “recorded some of the most original and honest rhythm & soul albums of the last two decades,” as Elmore Magazine declared. 

In the early 90’s, Van Morrison recruited Hunter to sing backup on tour and on two albums, A Night in San Francisco and Days Like This. In the years to follow, Hunter opened shows for Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Willie Nelson, and Tom Petty, and headlined clubs and theatres in England, Europe, Australia and the United States.

By 2006, Hunter was recognized with a Grammy Award  nomination for  Best Traditional Blues Album for People Gonna Talk and an American Music Award for Best New/Emerging Artist. He and his band then hit the road for a decade of extensive touring and recorded critically-acclaimed studio albums--The Hard Way (2008), Minute by Minute (2013), Hold On! (2016), and Whatever it Takes (2018). By 2016, MOJO Magazine had crowned him “The United Kingdom’s Greatest Soul Singer.”

Hunter wanted to acknowledge the band, who had been with him since the early 1990s. When he decided to record again, it was as the James Hunter Six. The James Hunter Six toured relentlessly to support the release of Minute by Minute in 2013, teaming up with producer Bosco Mann of Daptone Records. They played high-profile club and festival dates as headliners, and shared stages with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Budos Band, and others. Based on both the quality of the music they made and the easy touring camaraderie the group shared with Daptone acts, Mann signed Hunter to his label.

In March 2020, and unceremoniously coinciding with the beginning of COVID lockdowns, The James Hunter Six released another offering of no-nonsense rhythm and blues. Recorded and produced by Mann, Nick of Time (2020) is an example of how a master songsmith can continually draw fresh water from a bottomless well. In addition to the up-tempo, swinging R&B that put The James Hunter Six on the map, Nick of Time explores so much more.

On Valentine's Day of 2022, Daptone Records released his most recent album, With Love, The James Hunter Six, a collection of candle-lit ballads and love songs, selected from the vast trove of his Daptone Recordings.