It has been a busy couple of years for Irish Singer-songwriter, Gráinne Hunt.
As well as touring and performing throughout Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe, Gráinne has shared the stage with the some of Ireland’s foremost singer-songwriters, including Glen Hansard, Damien Dempsey and Liam Ó Maonlaí [lead singer of Irish Band Hothouse Flowers]. To date her biggest highlight was opening act for Gladys Knight at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre, and of course her debut at Glastonbury Festival.
Gráinne’s voice is strong, there’s a husky element but also a vulnerability which is also present in her lyrics, and this combination has gained her a reputation as one of Ireland’s most outstanding female vocalists, songwriters and musicians; her musicianship shines through from her years of studying Music at National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
Her voice is incredibly powerful, as is her range, some have compared it to that of “Tracy Chapman and Natalie Merchant, but there are times when I am reminded of the wonderful Dolores O’Riordan” says David Auckland, Folk Radio UK.
Gráinne’s two solo albums - Firing Pin [2015 co written with James Cramer] and This Secret [2019] - both dig deep into her personal history, she writes from a powerful place with lyrics that tell of pain, hurt, desire, all the hallmarks of a scarred relationship/s, making her truth resonate with listeners. The two albums feel like a cathartic expression that enable her to move on, move forward. Her song Little Bird from This Secret album, feels like a recovery song, with lyrics calling on the bird to “loose your wings, let it out”, “let it go, be a bird, flown” summoning strength “rest for a while, come this way, sing” with Gráinne’s beautiful vocal crescendo to close the song. Similarly, The Words of it All from her earlier album Firing Pin the parting song of secret lovers, is so honestly painted by Gráinne, “hiding our hands, this currency of love” and “you were the one I wanted the most”, “you shaped the lining inside this ghost”, it’s a mournful song that is poetic in nature. Critics said of Firing Pin “breathtakingly beautiful” (Dan Hegarty, 2FM) and a release “hewn out of a subtle, special talent” (Tony Clayton Lea, Irish Times).”
One critic hailed This Secret as an “album that even your therapist will want to buy.”
Gráinne recorded This Secret in Nashville with Grammy nominated producer Thomm Jutz guiding the recording and mixing the songs within a tiny 72 hour timeframe! Gráinne says the opportunity to record there came about via a chance attendance at a music conference where she heard Jutz explain their incredible recording schedules there.
It all became a reality in the Autumn of 2018 where Gráinne recalls being in the Nashville studio thinking to herself “Please don’t mess up, please don’t mess up,” she and Nashville based musicians recorded eleven tracks in just under three days “it just felt really easy,” she muses. “I'd never recorded like that before, but it was an incredible way to do it - and a lovely way to catch a snapshot of a moment in time.” G. Hunt in interview with D Auckland, Folk Radio UK.
Gráinne is the quintessential singer songwriter, and while the pandemic put her 2019 album release and touring schedule into chaos, she says she has moved on and is getting ready to record her third album.
“Her debut release is hewn out of a subtle special talent”
Tony Clayton Lea, Irish TImes
“The Words of it All”…..Breathtakingly Beautiful.
Dan Hegarty, 2FM Radio, Ireland.
“Her music is a magnet”
Kites and Strings Podcast, USA
“The live tracks on this album have proven that she has made her mark on the live stage ... I place her high in the league of Irish female singers e.g. Mary Black, Sinead O’Connor, Dolores O’Riordan, Andrea Corr and Wallis Bird to name but a few. She is in good company”
Zoë Farrell , MusicWand.
