Even the sparrow

"Kelly Hunt understands traditional and southern American roots music. Through Hunt's musicality and penchant for vibrant imagery, Even the Sparrow embraces modernity with unadulterated effervescence".

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"Kelly Hunt possesses an exceptionally lithe and expressive voice, which sounds like a delicate songbird imbued with the mojo of a hip raptor (think Iris DeMent meets Norah Jones) ... She taught herself how to play the banjo, which in this case is a well-seasoned tenor model with a calfskin head found in a used instrument shop, deftly wielded with a captivatingly spare tone. Even the Sparrow's title-track is a haunting, spectral wonder distinguished by Hunt's high, lonesome articulation, which flits around and wafts above the Appalachian-inflected melodic line soulfully carried by Staś Heaney's fiddle and the singer's banjo. 'Oh Brother Where Art Thou' adds Tyler Giles' acoustic guitar to the mix in a deeply swung old-time murder ballad, which may or may not pay homage to the Coen Brothers movie of the same name ... A brilliantly accomplished project".

"[Kelly Hunt] doesn't write the standard landfill acoustic rock or wannabe Nashville singer-songwritery stuff that floods in here on a daily basis. This is classier, drawing on rootsier things: a smidgeon of blues, a passing caress from older country, a nod to deeper roots in the way that The Band conjured up the ambience of an earlier era while being completely of their time. Tales well told, situations evoked ... She's got a lovely voice which can do tender and smoky or an unforced belting soulfulness or that playful-but-serious storytelling of earlier Dolly Parton ... And her accompaniments are just exactly right for her songs. Subtle, no excessive flash, mostly just her and fiddler Stas Heaney. She pulls off that difficult thing of being part of a deep tradition while seemingly fully self-formed and original".