For Release: May 9, 2002
Playing in El Paso for 30 years as the Lone Star State's best-kept secret, Long John Hunter blasted onto the international blues world's most-wanted list with the release of his 1996 album, Border Town Legend. With critical acclaim showering Border Town Legend and Hunter's 1997 follow-up, Swinging from the Rafters, one fact was clear: Long John Hunter had arrived--and, as The Chicago Tribune attested, his "ability [was] too big for just Texas."Now, Hunter--playing with Jeff Masterson, Mike Blommer, Jr., Alex Flores, Chip Ritter and Mike Blommer, Sr., of the Tucson, Arizona-based Bad News Blues Band--brings his scorching Texas blues to the Jubileestage with a performance taped at the 2000 W.C. Handy Blues Festival in Henderson, Ky.
Hunter's spirited Jubilee debut illustrates why, from one end of the country to the other, his raw talent and keen showmanship has taken the blues world by storm. The Los Angeles Times called him a "top notch singer, guitarist and unbridled wildman performer... a raw feral talent bursting with energy." "Hunter embodies Texas blues in all its varied, roustabout glory like no one on the scene today," claimed The Chicago Tribune.
Jubilee is a KET production, produced and directed by H. Russell Farmer. The program is closed-captioned for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Viewers can find out more about programming on KET by visiting the KET Web site at http://www.ket.org.