What an opportune time to hear motivating words, and an inspirational voice. Beautifully presented and enchanting from the start, Luanne Hunt’s “We Rise” is the chicken soup of song we as humans need. While her fans might be used to hearing her in the country genre, “We Rise” rises to the occasion fulfilling the Christian contemporary and adult contemporary descriptive.
Hunt, who is from Pennsylvania, now calls Las Vegas, Nevada home. Truly an indie singer/songwriter that has catapulted her artistic career with the use of the internet, her talents and moxie, Hunt has been consistently releasing music and nabbing accolades for over 20 years. Her album Breaking Through produced two hit singles on U.S. and European charts. “Solace In The Wind” topped the European Country Music Association’s chart (Belgium) in 2010. In December 2011, Hunt’s holiday tune, “Christmas Without You”, went to No. 1 on the European Country Music Association chart in France, Denmark and Austria. It also was the second most played song in Europe during the month of December 2011. Hunt is also an inductee in the Independent Superstars Country Music Hall of Fame.
The importance of the lyrics in “We Rise” came down to one line for me: sing songs about healing and love. Because we’re looking through 2020 through the lens we are, certainly no one predicted a pandemic, but it’s Hunt’s words that carried a heavy burden. It’s her voice, though, that carried me through the song. She’s angelic in a way that is a bit more folksy or dare I say, more real, than Enya. She’s a bit more in the realm of Mary Travers (Peter, Paul and Mary). I think she hits the chorus “we rise” a bit more high soprano, but her overall rang is not as glossy as Enya. I could hear just a whisper of her twang, her country-calling card.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAOi0xi3J9Q
A faint acoustic guitar strums, alongside an elegant piano bed. What had me so ensconced is when she does sing the chorus, an under layering of hymnal-like voices carry Hunt’s vocals. Reaching and striving, only her voice floats above the music. For those listeners not familiar with church, it’s not a building, it’s the sound that Hunt makes in that exact moment. It’s the Heaven’s opening up and light filling the afternoon sky. Anything is possible, so it seems. It’s hope sewn into a tapestry with subtle music.
Overall, “We Rise” is a winner of a song. It’s songs like this that will us to a brighter day, a better tomorrow. We all need a song like “We Rise” in our life regardless of creed, station in life or frankly, any day outside a pandemic. This is the song that puts humanity back into perspective and reminds us as listeners that thinking positive and spreading joy to others is as simple as it gets. The secret to happiness just might be that in helping others we are helping ourselves. Luanne Hunt rises above the competition in the extraordinary “We Rise” out now.
Troy Johnston
The music of LUANNE HUNT has been heard all over the world in partnership with the radio plugging services offered by Musik and Film Radio Promotions Division. Learn more https://musikandfilm.com