Throughout the pandemic, Shaunavon's very own country music superstars the Hunter Brothers have continued to perfect their craft and record music.
At the most recent Saskatchewan Country Music Awards held last month, the group walked away with a number of awards including album of the year for their album "Been a minute"
Ty Hunter explains how they chose their most recent album title.
"Well, I think the single "Been a minute" its a phrase that we would hear wherever we went. If we were in Nashville, if we were here, everybody would just use the phrase "it's been a minute since I've seen you", it's been a minute since this or that and we thought that would be a really cool album title and it would be a cool way to speak the language that people have been experiencing for the past year and a half."
Hunter adds that given the last couple of years and circumstances it meant a lot to win with this album as almost every vocal on it was recorded on their farm in their home studio. The brothers started the project in Nashville but came back right before the pandemic and decided to expedite the process of building a studio on their home farm.
In addition, Hunter says that it has been a minute since they have had live shows, performances, and recorded music. He says the album title encapsulated what they were feeling at the time. He adds that a lot of the songs on the project spoke to the last couple of years and resonated with them and with other people as well.
The Hunter Brothers also picked up the Group Of The Year award for the fourth year in a row. Reflecting on this, Hunter says they like to refer to themselves as a hockey team with three forwards and two defensemen as it is kind of the same in music. He says there was no arguing over who played which instrument and everybody wound up with a different vocal range. He says the award speaks to the essence of what they do in terms of a musical group and who they are as a family.
Hunter explains what it was about the album that he thinks resonated with audiences.
"Any artist has a language and specific way of saying something that resonates with certain people and I think that's one of the powerful things about music where it transcends every language barrier, there's something about it that reaches out to a community."
As far as new music, Hunter says they have lots waiting in the wings including a current project they are working on and a new single that will be released in the coming weeks. In addition, he says they have lots of shows on the books for this summer and will be everywhere from Nova Scotia to BC and everywhere in between.
If the brothers could do a collaboration with any artist Hunter says each would have a slightly different answer but collectively it would be Dan & Shay. He says this is because they have an emphasis on vocals and harmony and a number of things that everyone respects and looks up to.