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Seven-member sibling band The Hunts will return to UNM for an encore performance Wednesday.
Self-described as an indie folk group, the band is composed of twins Jesse and Jenni, and siblings Josh, Jonathon, Jordon, Justin, and JJ, ranging in age from 15 to 24. The family travels to venues across the country with their manager mother Sandy Hunt.
“Once the girls were old enough, we taught them to play the violin. Their love and talent for it brought out more of a crowd and since then we have had a lot of development,” Josh said. “We used to just fiddle and now we perform and write our own music.”
The siblings all share a love for creating music and being satisfied with what they take on stage and they want to encourage this passion in their age group, Josh said.
“We try to push for more acoustic instruments, for an overall acoustic feel. The big things are hip-hop, R&B, techno and we want to push for more acoustic and skilled music,” he said.
The siblings all play a plethora of instruments — from electric violin to banjo, and accordion to xylophone. The youngest member of the family is JJ, 15. He plays percussion, as well as the mandolin and the guitar. Everyone works together to sing background vocals at some point or another.
This Wednesday, the band will be heard playing most of its original music during the UNM Noontime Concert near the SUB.
“By performing more in college settings, we get to see more of a younger crowd who love music and who live for music. We have a greater reach of performing with this crowd and we love it,” Josh said.
Outside of touring, the younger members of the family put a lot of emphasis on the importance of school. The youngest three are still in high school, and two of them are taking dual-credit classes online.
The older siblings have worked on pursing college educations.
Ashley Cummings, a senior in the fine arts program, had the opportunity to see The Hunts perform when they came to campus last year and is excited to see them again.
“I just happened to walk into the SUB and heard them playing. They sounded really catchy and a lot of people were really into it,” she said.
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