Jana Hunter | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Genres | Lo-fi, experimental |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, synthesizer, violin, bass guitar |
| Labels | Gnomonsong, Ribbon Music |
Jana Hunter is an American songwriter and musician based in Baltimore.
Hunter was born in Texas. His family is Catholic, but he no longer follows Catholicism. [1]
Hunter was signed to Gnomonsong, a record label run by Devendra Banhart and Vetiver's Andy Cabic. Hunter's solo debut album Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom was the label's debut release. In 2007 Hunter founded an independent record label based in Houston, Texas, Feow! Records, with musicians Matthew Brownlie of Bring Back the Guns and Arthur Bates of Houston band Wicked Poseur. [2]
Hunter was the singer and primary songwriter for Lower Dens. [3] [4] [5] After releasing their debut, Twin-Hand Movement, on Gnomonsong in 2010, Lower Dens were one of the first bands signed to the Ribbon Music label and released their second album, Nootropics , on Ribbon in 2012. [6]
Hunter has performed and/or recorded as a member of Jracula, Castanets, Matty & Mossy, Ejaculette, Unitus, and Krazy Nerds, and played in/recorded for Sharon Van Etten, Trentemøller, Food Pyramid, Airwaves, Indian Jewelry, Matteah Baim, Metallic Falcons, Phosphorescent, and CocoRosie.
Hunter is the inspiration for several characters in the stories of J.M. Appel, including providing the basis for Maggie in the novella Fallout (2010). [7]
Hunter has toured with Tara Jane O'Neil, Devendra Banhart, Rasputina, Viking Moses, Castanets, Deer Tick, Marissa Nadler, Peter & the Wolf, Cass McCombs, and Woozyhelmet, among others. In 2005, Hunter accompanied Meadows, Lights, and Mouth of Leaves on their Summer of Golden Blood tour throughout the South. In 2006, Hunter performed at North East Sticks Together.
Hunter has appeared at Mad Vicky's Tea House in Brooklyn, New York, owned by "Mad Vicky", Bianca Casady of the musical duo CocoRosie.
In 2019, Hunter created a special playlist for Billboards Summer of Pride event. The playlist, which can be found on Spotify, includes songs by various artists, including The Smiths and Stevie Wonder. Hunter said in the corresponding interview that these songs had both helped and inspired him whilst growing up. [8]
“I was wild and in a lot of pain as a kid; home life was very bleak," Hunter told Nick Williams, the article writer. "Pop songs were a guaranteed escape to a mental space where beauty, wonder, and love were possible." He continued on to tell of the inspiration they received, saying that he "wanted to write songs that might have the potential to do that." [8]
Hunter founded and played in the Houston band Matty & Mossy with Heath Flagtvedt, Matt Frey and John Hunter. Their album, Fraimers Haimey, was recorded in Athens, Georgia with Chris Bishop and released on Fleece Records. The album reached #1 on the radio charts of Rice Radio and KSPC, and songs from the album were used in the soundtrack of Andrew Bujalski's films Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation .
Hunter was assigned female at birth. [9] In 2014, Hunter came out as gender fluid (or non-binary), [10] as well being neither gay nor straight, stating that he "feel[s] extremely fortunate in that I truly don’t give a fuck when it comes to the gender of the person I’m dating". [10] [11] [12] He also identifies as transmasculine. [9]
In August 2019, an article by Billboard.com stated that Hunter preferred he/him pronouns. [8] In an interview for the same magazine a month later, Hunter discussed his experience undergoing hormone replacement therapy, disclosing he had undergone top surgery and discussing the difficulties of testosterone lowering both his speaking and singing voice. [13]
In 2021, Hunter revealed he had been diagnosed as having autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). [5]
Devendra Obi Banhart is an American-Venezuelan singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Texas, and raised in Venezuela and California. In 2000, he dropped out of the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue a musical career. In 2002, Banhart released his debut album and is best known for his albums in the late 2000s such as Cripple Crow and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. He has since expanded his career to incorporate his interest and training in the visual arts.
Vetiver is an American folk band headed by songwriter Andy Cabic.
Cripple Crow is the fifth album by American-Venezuelan psychedelic folk musician Devendra Banhart released on September 13, 2005 on XL Recordings. It was his first release on the label XL Recordings. The cover references the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.
Linda Perhacs is an American psychedelic folk singer, who released her first album, Parallelograms, in 1970 to scant notice or sales. The album was rediscovered by record enthusiasts and reissued numerous times beginning in 1998, growing in popularity with the rise of the New Weird America movement and the Internet. In 2014, she released a second album titled The Soul of All Natural Things, and a third, I'm a Harmony, in 2017.
Rejoicing in the Hands is the third studio album from psychedelic folk musician Devendra Banhart and the second full release for the label Young God. It was recorded during 2003 and was released on April 24, 2004.
Niño Rojo is the fourth studio release by freak folk artist Devendra Banhart and his third release on the label Young God Records. It was released on September 13, 2004.
Jana Hunter/Devendra Banhart is a self-titled split album by Devendra Banhart and Jana Hunter, released in 2005 on LP only by Troubleman Unlimited. It features cover art by Arthur Bates and pressed on yellow vinyl.
Waxploitation is an American record label, artist management company and music publisher, which was founded in 1996 by Jeff Antebi.
Castanets was the musical project of Ray Raposa, who had been signed to Asthmatic Kitty Records from 2004 until his death in 2022. Castanets was influenced by country, folk, and experimental rock, and released seven albums, the latest being Decimation Blues in 2014. Additionally, songs by Castanets appear on a number of split 7-inch singles and EPs with other bands, including Shapes and Sizes and Dirty Projectors. While Raposa was the only constant member of the band, his records and live performances featured a rotating cast of musicians. A San Diego native, Raposa lived in Brooklyn and resided in Portland, Oregon.
Wooden Wand is the stage name of singer-songwriter James Jackson Toth, who has recorded under his given name as well as the name WAND. The style of music recorded by Toth and his many incarnations has drawn on a variety of both conventional and experimental folk and rock influences, including psychedelic folk, freak folk and indie. Though he was a significant player in the New Weird America trend of the early to mid-2000s along with Devendra Banhart, Akron/Family, Joanna Newsom, and collaborators The Vanishing Voice, Toth has been difficult to pigeonhole in one genre; recent releases have been identified as acid folk, free jazz, outlaw country, and country-tinged rock. Toth has appeared on labels including Kill Rock Stars, Ecstatic Peace!, Rykodisc, and Young God.
Troubleman Unlimited Records was a record label specializing in indie rock and similar genres. Founded in 1993, the label was based in Bayonne, New Jersey and owned by Mike Simonetti.
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon is a Devendra Banhart album released September 25, 2007. This album features more instrumentation than the previous records, as well as more genre experimentation. Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon was recorded in Topanga Canyon in Southern California and is dedicated to Alice Coltrane, Malachi Ritscher and Elliott Smith.
Manimal Vinyl is a Los Angeles–based record label founded in 2006 by film/TV producer, composer and former fashion editor Paul Gebser-Beahan.
Danielle Stech-Homsy, known by her pseudonym Rio en Medio, is an American singer and baritone ukulelist.
The albums discography of American country music artist Charley Pride contains 44 studio albums, three live albums, seven video albums, 36 compilation albums, three extended plays and 12 album appearances. Signing his first recording contract in 1966 with RCA Victor, he released his first album the same year called Country Charley Pride. The studio release peaked at number 16 on the Billboard country albums chart. It also sold 500,000 copies in the United States, helping it to receive a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. In 1968, The Country Way topped the country albums chart and spent 42 weeks on the list. The record also certified gold. Pride continued releasing a series of studio albums in the 1960s. Both of his 1969 studio efforts would certify gold from the RIAA as well.
Lower Dens was an American alternative indie pop band from Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The band was formed in 2010 by Jana Hunter, Geoff Graham, Abram Sanders and Will Adams. Lower Dens has released four albums: their debut on Gnomonsong and a follow-up album on Ribbon Music. Their third album, Escape from Evil, was released on March 31, 2015, on Ribbon Music.
Viking Moses is a band fronted by Brendon Massei, an American songwriter noted for being on tour since 1993. Founded in 2003 and currently based in Baltimore, the group features a rotating cast of musicians. Viking Moses has worked with the Alan McGee's Poptones record label as well as Portland-based Marriage Records.
Nootropics is the second album released by Baltimore indie rock band Lower Dens. It was released April 30, 2012, on the Domino Recording Company’s Ribbon Music label, the band's first album on that label, its debut Twin-Hand Movement being released on Gnomonsong.
Mala is the eighth studio album by American folk rock musician Devendra Banhart, released on March 12, 2013 on Nonesuch Records. The album was produced by Banhart and Noah Georgeson, and mastered by Greg Calbi.
Ape in Pink Marble is the ninth studio album by folk rock musician Devendra Banhart, released on September 23, 2016 on Nonesuch Records. The album was written, produced, arranged, and recorded in Los Angeles by the singer/songwriter/guitarist with his longtime collaborators Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick, both of whom also worked on Banhart's previous album, Mala (2013).
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