Hunt returns to perform at Liberty Theatre

Recording artist and songwriter Kelley Hunt was so well received during her performance last year in Fort Scott that she's making a return engagement.

And that's just fine with the versatile musician, who performs everything from blues and jazz, to roots rhythm and blues and gospel.

During a Wednesday interview with The Fort Scott Tribune, Hunt said Fort Scott is a town she has become very familiar with through her musical ventures.

"Fort Scott is a really cool place," Hunt said. "I'm really glad to be back."

Hunt said earlier this year, she was invited back for another concert by Liberty Theatre owners after a successful concert there in early 2006.

The Kansas City native -- an accomplished songwriter, keyboardist, singer and live performer -- is scheduled to perform a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday at the theatre, located at 113 S. Main St.

Hunt said she was glad to be able to come back for another performance at the old theatre, which was completely renovated and remodeled last year.

"It's a very nice theater and very positive for the community," she said.

Hunt, who also lived in Lawrence for several years, is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where she earned a degree in music composition. She is a veteran of more than 1,500 live performances and 150 international festival stages. She has released three major studio albums, according to her Web site.

Her musical talents have also been featured elsewhere, including radio, television, film and satellite radio. She even did some acting, music scoring, and songwriting for the upcoming independent movie "Bunker Hill," Willmott. Hunt received the 2007 State of Kansas and Kansas Arts Commission's Governor's Award, and was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in 2006.

Over the years, she has been through many different sizes of towns while touring the country and the world; from smaller rural communities to larger metropolitan cities, Hunt said.

But according to her, when it comes to a live audience, it doesn't matter where she's performing.

"I'm happy with whatever the setting is," she said. "A good audience is a good audience, no matter where you are."

Hunt said she first began trying to play the piano at age 3, and began taking piano lessons at the age of 10. While growing up, she also learned to play the acoustic guitar, and eventually joined a rock and roll band while attending high school.

She started writing and performing her own songs several years ago, a passion that Hunt said would eventually take her on the journey she was meant to complete.

"It's always been my life," she said. "There's never been anything negative attached to it. It's not an easy business. You have to have a thick skin, and the desire and will to succeed. If you have the joy and the passion, it can be done."

Hunt said she typically performs a combination of many different styles of music, but does not classify her music under just one specific genre; she plays according to how she feels that particular day.

"I don't play any style on purpose," she said. "If it's who you are, it's gonna end up coming out. I feel like it should be authentic to who I am. The music should fit."

Hunt's musical education began with the purest of references -- the sound of her grandmother's voice singing gospel music in the tradition of the great music city of New Orleans, according to Hunt's biography on her Web site. She has studied the musical styles of several piano players and singers from Kansas City, St. Louis, and New Orleans, the site said.

Hunt said the biggest influences in her life are her parents, and her older brother and sister, all of whom listened to what Hunt called "an eclectic mix of stuff" daily on the radio; including New Orleans music, gospel, jazz, Motown, and other styles.

It was the music that Hunt grew up listening to, and the music she eventually formed a career out of.

"It was the soup on the stove at my house, so it's been a natural thing for me," she said.

When comparing the recording of music in a studio to performing for a live crowd, Hunt said she likes working in a studio equally as well as performing live, where she gives "110 percent" during each show.

"It's (live) a shared experience with people," she said. "Recording is like a big, blank pallet. I love and look forward to both actually."

During the Saturday concert, Hunt said she plans to play some songs from her upcoming new album, which is slated for a release early next year, as well as some of her previous songs. There will also be a couple of surprise performances that evening that she and her full band will perform.

Tickets for the Kelley Hunt concert, which range in price from $15 to $22.50, are available online at www.fslibertytheatre.com, at the Liberty Theatre box office, or by calling the theater at (620) 223-4060.

More information about Hunt can be found on her Web site at www.kelleyhunt.com.