“I still have no idea what I’m doing, even with this record,” Grant Hunnicutt jokes in regards to his debut full-length, Grant Hunnicutt Sings Jonathan Vassar. It’s a recording that feels like it belongs to a different time. Hunnicutt spent only the greater part of a weekend recording the twelve tracks that would end up on the record, a method akin to the endless jaunts of creative glory that existed in Memphis, Tennesseee during the heyday of Sun Records. While it may be difficult to imagine the likes of Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley simply walking down the hall to record their next hit as part of a day's work, the truth is that these incidents took only a matter of moments. The desirability of capturing these brief moments is the heart and soul of Hunnicutt's musical mission.
In 2008, Hunnicutt was playing bass guitar and harmonizing in the Mermaid Skeletons. The group unveiled their Darlings EP while slowly beginning to expand by touring outside of Central Virginia. In the midst of this period, though, Hunnicutt had a grander project at hand, which would require the help of his friends. “I think The Bill Mason Society came together as more of a personal diary," he recalls. "I wanted to only include my friends in Richmond, but I ended up reaching out to friends in New York. I wanted to get my friends to play songs and put [them] all on a compilation as a way to have it all exist. Like, 'This is what we were doing right at this moment.'"
The Bill Mason Society compilation features many of Hunnicutt’s Mermaid Skeleton friends, as well as David Shultz of Ophelia. The collection offers a portrait of Richmond music in the year 2008. There are early glimpses of Herschel Stratego, playing a light rendition of “Hey Ladies, Rob Here, Watch Out,” and even a young Zac Hryciak performing alongside Jessica Blanks on the phenomenal track “Hero.” This was Hunnicutt’s way of showing a love for his creative surroundings and the people that were not just contained within it, but craved and desired to be a part of it.
The Waltz: Grant Hunnicutt, Jared Pool, Jessica Blanks, Jonathan Vassar
Jonathan Vassar initially broached the idea for his and Hunnicutt's current creative endeavor. Since Vassar’s return to the Richmond scene over the past few years, his musical reach continues to expand. In light of the prolific release schedule for his groups the Speckled Bird and Ophelia, as well as his active roles in Homemade Knives and Triple Stamp Press, it may come as a surprise that there was still more potential for creative activity within him. Vassar envisioned the songs that would appear on Grant Hunnicutt Sings Jonathan Vassar as a country-western record. “When Jonathan came to me, he initially wanted [local bluegrass outfit] The River City Band to back him up on these songs," reflects Hunnicutt. "Due to conflicting schedules, there just wasn’t enough time to focus on making that happen. That’s when the idea progressed to what became this record.”
Vassar approached Hunnicutt to figure out any way of utilizing these songs. For their first go at it, Hunnicutt attempted to make the songs his own to perform in River City Band, in which Hunnicutt plays bass. The group enjoyed playing the songs, but didn't feel that they'd quite brought them to fruition. That’s when Hunnicutt thought about forming what he considered to be his dream band and seeing what would happen. “It was easy to immediately think this band wouldn’t come together,"he says. "I just settled into these songs, to the point where I really wanted to see them through. So I called Jonathan about the idea, then sought out Jessica Blanks and Jared Pool, and the band came together.” This band, known as The Waltz, were to accompany Hunnicutt on his proper full-length.
It may seem bizarre to have your first record predominantly feature songs written by someone else, but it lends itself to an idea that Hunnicutt spoke very highly of. “I remember writing a tune a while back where I just didn’t know what to do with it. Then in a flash, I thought of how my friend Liza Kate would probably really take to it. It ended up being on her last record.” After he spoke of this instance, it made perfect sense to me that these songs would be accessible for a multitude of artists. From this perspective, it seems that the Richmond music scene has developed a foundation of sharing songs in a traditional manner. It’s at this point of time that songs Vassar wrote close to ten years ago could make sense performed by Hunnicutt. This is an old school train of thought that is now making itself more apparent.
The sound of Grant Hunnicutt Sings Jonathan Vassar is unique due to the way they were captured at the historic Bellevue Theatre. There weren’t all that many overdubs, as per Hunnicutt’s desire. “I wanted the voice and music to just sound as real as possible. It’s going back to the Bill Mason Society stuff, in how I really find there to be something remarkable in the rawest form of recording.” The first day of recording was spent with all four players facing one another in the theatre. They smoothly rounded out the majority of the record in this initial session. The second day was when things got intriguing. Hunnicutt decided to take on two more songs, one of which was the lush, delicate tune “Sutter’s Mill.” This is one of the strongest showcases of Hunnicutt’s gentle voice finding a home in the world of Vassar’s characters. It also shows off a few glimpses of a fuzzy electric guitar, adding a bit more framework to the record. It’s not overbearing, and it sets the mood in many ways. “Sutter’s Mill” is co-written by Hunnicutt and Vassar, which indicates that the process of making this record offered creative enlightenment.
Ophelia: Will Thompson, Grant Hunnicutt, David Shultz, Jonathan Vassar
The second new song that Hunnicutt chose to work on was a track from one of his and Vassar's other musical projects, Ophelia. With the David Shultz-penned tune “Butcher,” Hunnicutt has accomplished something that I truly think is unprecedented. He not only takes the original thought behind the song and makes it his own, but adds obvious weight to the proceedings, which was masked in the original. In Ophelia's version, there is a sense of sadness, yet Shultz’s voice guides the listener to safety. In Hunnicutt’s rendition, the lyrics of “Butcher” are laid bare, their tragedy embraced in the inherent sadness of the narrator’s daily interactions. This is the true purpose of a cover tune. Hunnicutt’s interpretation furthers the traditional lineage of “Butcher,” making the song something greater than either he or Shultz could have initially conceived.
With the release of Grant Hunnicutt Sings Jonathan Vassar, the quiet cadence of Hunnicutt’s craft is further realized. His subtle demeanor may be his most identifying characteristic, but his contributions to the Richmond music scene will only continue to serve the purpose of preserving and archiving the present, so that future generations of Richmond music fans will know what this moment in time meant to us all. This is how Grant Hunnicutt captures a moment.
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Grant Hunnicutt and The Waltz will perform tonight at the Firehouse Theatre (1609 W. Broad St) to celebrate the release of Grant Hunnicutt Sings Jonathan Vassar by Triple Stamp Records. Also performing will be Josh Hryciak, David Shultz, and Athens, GA's Hope For Agoldensummer. Admission is free, show begins at 7:30 PM.