Swinging From The Rafters [CD]

"Hunter's one of those typically unknown-everywhere-but-Texas legends which seem to enter our World from some parallel Lone Star universe, fully formed and with supernova brilliance" --PULSE

"Hunter's ability is too big just for Texas" --CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"Texas has produced many a great blues guitarist, from T-Bone Walker, Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Gatemouth Brown to Freddie King, Johnny Winter and of course Stevie Ray Vaughan. The latest addition to that prestigious list is Long John Hunter" --BEAT

"A raw, feral talent bursting with energy" -- LOS ANGELES TIMES

"Just listen to this guy play! --BILLY GIBBONS

THESE are just a few of the comments that you can hear when you enter Long John Hunter's "Lone Star Universe." "Overnight success" is another one. And with all the press, all the national and international touring and all the radio play that he's earned in the last two years, that's sure what he seems to be. Of course, if you stay in Long John's Universe for a couple of hours, you would hear about the Lobby Bar in Juarez, Mexico, where he was an 'overnight sensation' from nine at night "till the rooster crowed" for more than a decade. It was there that he earned his Texas-wide reputation, as he literally swung from the rafters (and sometimes even walked around on them) playing his guitar with one hand.

Talk about knowing how to swing....
With his debut on Alligator, Border Town Legend , thankfully, he has finally been able to share his talents with audiences from New York to Hawaii, from coast to coast, and from border to border. But no matter how far he's gotten from Texas, he's never gotten very far from his roots. Even on his first trip to Europe, three fans came up to him and said, "Hey Long John... remember me from the Lobby?"

Stay in his world just a little bit longer, when the press and fans have left, and you are sure to hear the phrase, "...with all this attention, when I get down from up there on stage, I'm still just John."

It was with this humility that his first two releases, Ride With Me (soon to be re-released on Alligator) and Border Town Legend, were recorded. He wanted the music to be center stage, with brassy horns for joy, good rhythm and piano grooves for the foundation. For Swinging From The Rafters , his producers asked him to come front and center and record an album that had all of that, but this time, could he really cut loose on his guitar like he used to...when he was swinging from the rafters in Juarez? "Why sure! I'll try," he replied. And with a little secret laugh behind his big Texas grin, as he stepped into the studio, he said, halfway to himself, "If you think that's what the people want."

Oh, yeah, Johnny. That's what we want. -- Steve Jeter