All tagged Taylor Hunnicutt
You know what follows is probably going to be something you don’t want to hear from somebody that has no business saying it. Saying “With all due respect…” seems to give some folks the green light to point out something grossly inappropriate or downright rude. Taylor Hunnicutt says she has taken the feeling of hearing that phrase and used it to fuel her passion, “the tone of this whole EP lies with the idea of just being done with this shit.”
It was the end of January before I finally caught up with Taylor Hunnicutt to talk about the release of her first full-length album. She had been dealing with quite a hectic month to say the least. Just before Christmas, she and her husband learned that they would have to move out of the house in which they were living and had hoped to buy. They scrambled to relocate in time to get packed after the holidays for a week in Key West at Mile 0 Fest. Returning from her debut at the huge festival (which she described as “magical”) there was only time for a quick turnaround before heading up to Virginia for a sold-out headlining show which was to be her only scheduled appearance in February. Then began the wait for the appearance of her long-awaited record Alabama Sound on March 22 via 10 Ton Records before she begins a string of dates including support slots and festival stages stretching through October.
My memory does not serve me when trying to determine how many artists I saw at last year’s festival, but this year definitely felt like more. My roster for this year checked in at nearly 60 sets. Not all sets were witnessed from start to finish and many were short sets at industry parties. Nonetheless, with a lineup of this magnitude, there were a massive number of artists I made a point to see.
Temperatures at or above 100 degrees at the end of July are not unheard of in Fort Smith, but this year was not the best time for it to settle in. The annual Peacemaker Festival welcomes thousands of music fans to the banks of the Arkansas River at a beautiful park just below the Garrison Street Bridge. This was my 3rd time at the festival and I have always found it to be among the best of its size. The music lineup is always imaginative representing several genres and welcoming diverse fan bases. The VIP setup is ideal, offering an unobstructed area directly in front of the stage with a designated area for chairs, as well as upgraded restroom facilities, exclusive bar, and a chance to catch the artists at the backstage gate.
You could call Taylor Hunnicutt Alabama’s Sweetheart, and for certain, you wouldn’t be wrong, but you’d be glossing over a woman who is also gritty, raw, fierce, and soulful. She might be sweet, but she’s the epitome of ‘fuck around and find out,’ and I don’t think you wanna.
A small-town, Southern Alabama native, Taylor has graced stages with artists and friends like Joshua Ray Walker, Mike and the Moonpies, Jaime Wyatt, Daniel Donato, Lilly Hiatt, Early James, 49 Winchester, Them Dirty Roses, and fellow Alabama artists Red Clay Strays.
The state of Alabama has a rich history of producing musical talent. Hank Williams is a good place to start since he set the standard for every country star since and his son made quite an impression as well. “Bocephus” had quite a run from the late 70s through 80s with a string of hit albums mixing his version of outlaw country with Southern rock and a bit of the blues. The group “Alabama” was the first to make the concept of a self-contained band in country music popular with the mainstream and rose to unprecedented heights in the 80s.
