Robert J Hunter hails from the Channel Islands, Alderney to be precise. Unsurprisingly he is now based in London, as his home Island is only 3 miles long, 1.5 miles wide and a population of around 2,000. His latest release, The Robert J Hunter Band, follows a busy year of gigging across the UK building up a healthy following of blues and blues/rock fans along the way.
It’s no wonder that he lists Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, The Black Crowes, Little Feat and the Faces as primary inspirations. These can be heard as tell-tales in his writing and playing, but RJH has definitely stamped his own style and personality across the 10 tracks. Vocally he has a slightly gruff style, which reminds me of Marcus Bonfanti with occasional Roger Chapman overtones.
It opens with ‘Loving Unfortunately‘, which, despite the title is a good rock ‘n’ roll shuffle. Mr Winter feeds a little funk into the mix before segueing into a (too short) SRV flavored solo. Some lovely slide over subtle acoustic and bass brings third track ‘Alone’ truly alive.
Slow burning blues show his skills and feel on ‘Every Heart Has A Home’; it has a little of ‘Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City’ (Bobby Bland) about it; in it’s intensity and structure.
Favorite track has to be ‘Poison’ for it’s wonderful guitar backing as it opens, builds and bursts into a fast shuffle with screaming slide…great stuff! So, if your thing is quality blues-rock, this will fit the bill admirably.
