Who: James Hunter
What: The Hard Way
Where: Colchester, Essex, England
Why: The singers, songwriters, musicians, instruments, arrangers, engineers, producers, audio technicians, tape operators, audio equipment, amplifiers, microphones, rooms, buildings and individuals utilized to record the STAX Records canon all played a critical role in creating an entirely new genre of music by sewing together a patchwork of pop, blues, soul, country, jazz, rock and R&B with surgical precision. Miraculously, before the age of ten, English schoolboy James Hunter began channeling the mystic properties of his grandmother’s record collection of early American R&B and Rock ‘n’ Roll 78rpm discs. And suddenly he had the keys to the kingdom.
When: 2008