Ian Hunter Sets City Winery Residency

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Former Mott the Hoople frontman turned longtime (and still decidedly rocking) solo artist Ian Hunter will play three successive Saturdays in June – the 11th, 18th and 25th – at one of Manhattan’s premier musical venues, City Winery. Backing him will be his by-now veteran Rant Band, which features such seasoned players as drummer Steve Holley (whose credits include Paul McCartney and Wings, Elton John, Kiki Dee and others), guitarists Mark Bosch (who also works with Garland Jeffreys) and James Mastro (The Bongos) and, on occasion, Hunter’s recent producer and John Mellencamp guitarist Andy York.

Hunter plays City Winery on a frequent basis that will this summer be more regular. He will also appear at the venue for the Heart on Fire: Concert for Ivan Julian on May 4th. He will join such acts Debbie Harry, Richard Hell, Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Jeffreys, Willie Nile, The Bush Tetras & more to raise funds to assist the former Voidoid and longtime New York musical figure in his battle with cancer.

The residency may figure in with work on a new album, which a Hunter representative told a Best Classic Bands contributor last fall was planned for the near future. Meanwhile he continues to sell his self-released Live in the UK 2010 album on his website. It features the Hunter and the Rant Band with a string quartet on tour in England in a style similar to his well-received 2004 two-CD Strings Attached set recorded in Oslo, Norway with a band and orchestra. Samples of the tracks can be heard here.

Hunter gained fame as the singer and primary songwriter for Mott the Hoople with such songs as David Bowie’s “All The Young Dudes,” “All The Way From Memphis,” Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane” and “Roll Away the Stone” during the early-to-mid 1970s. His solo career has yielded songs like “Cleveland Rocks” (used as the theme song for The Drew Carey Show), “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” (a #5 hit for the band Great White in 1989) and “Ships” (a 1979 Top 10 hit for, of all people, Barry Manilow). Such recent albums as Rant (2001), Man Overboard (2009) and When I’m Presiden (2012) have consistently earned Hunter praise for their mature yet still vibrant rock’n’roll.

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