Luanne Hunt recently celebrated her 30th year in the music business and released her 24th album, fittingly titled Miles and Memories. The current Floridian originally from Pennsylvania, has certainly logged countless miles and accumulated a treasure trove of memories along with many chart successes and accolades throughout her career as an independent singer-songwriter. About the new album’s title track, along with commemorating her artistic journey, she says it’s about “all the wonderful things and all the ups and downs that happen to everybody.”
Despite having a deep love of music from her earliest days, she had to overcome a large amount of resistance from those closest to her, who discouraged her from pursuing music early on. It wasn’t until she got married in her twenties that she took more proactive steps in that direction. “I just started to take some voice lessons,” Luanne remembers. “…I was singing at county fairs and retirement homes and things like that, and got a little bit of experience under my belt.” When her newspaper writer husband discovered a gift for songwriting, the two began a new phase as Luanne recorded his songs, then began writing herself. She has chronicled this whole journey in a documentary, Luanne Hunt: I Won’t Stop Singing! (linked at her website), which is sure to be an encouragement to other artists with obstacles to overcome.
Over time, her engaging stories set to music have touched a lot of listeners and garnered her numerous accolades. “It was awesome to finally have something tangible to show for what I had done,” she says. “Because as an independent artist, you don’t often get something tangible. So, it’s validating, for sure.” Her many awards include being a six-time American Songwriting Awards winner and a three-time “CD of the Year” recipient from the National Traditional Country Music Association (NTCMA), along with five Josie Music Awards nominations, as well as two Grammy nominations (Best Country Song and Best Female Country Performance) for her song “Solace In The Wind,” from her 2007 album, Breaking Through.