Hunter Flynn: Appalachian Soul

Courtesy of Hunter Flynn

Hunter Flynn is a 25 year old Appalachian Soul artist from the small town of Somerset, Kentucky. Flynn entered the music scene in February 2022 and has since become a full-time recording and gigging musician.

Since February 2022 he has opened for Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives at the Master Musicians Festival and played on stages in Tennessee, Ohio, West Virginia, Illinois, North Carolina, and all over the Bluegrass state.

“I went to [Eastern Kentucky University] originally to get a master's in biology. I wanted to be an anesthesiologist or so I thought,” Flynn said. “After a couple of years of doing that, I realized that I was spending all my time doing something that I thought would end up making me a lot of money and not really doing anything that I enjoyed doing, and so after a few talks with my parents, and some close friends, I switched my major to graphic design.”

Flynn graduated with a degree in graphic design and then started selling insurance. 

“I kind of backtracked there and started doing something again that I didn't enjoy,” Flynn said. “I did that for about a year and then I wrecked my car on the interstate. I got in a pretty bad wreck going 70 miles per hour, hydroplaned and flipped across three lanes of traffic, didn't have my seatbelt on, but somehow walked away, unscathed.”

Flynn quit his job the next month and fully committed himself to art and music. 

“I was able to quit my job because I was doing hyperrealism charcoal drawings and that was what allowed me to have, you know, the free time to start doing other things like going to open mics, and writing songs and doing stuff like that,” Flynn said. “One day somebody walked up to me and asked me what I charged for a set after an open mic and I ended up taking the gig and playing there with just a hodgepodge of equipment and stuff and since then it's kind of been history.”

It’s just over a year later now and Flynn is a full-time musician. For Flynn, this dream was a long time coming. 

“I guess it goes all the way back to when I was a kid. I mean, I've always loved to draw and paint and make things and my mom would always go around the house just making up silly songs and sing to us as kids,” Flynn said. 

When Flynn was younger, the only thing that would calm his youngest sister in the car was him singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

“We were always in the car doing something,” Flynn said. “My oldest sister is 27. I'm 25 and have a little brother who's 19 and a little sister who is 12. We're all spread out, and we're just constantly in the car and whenever she was a baby, anytime we were in the car for more than 30-45 minutes, she'd start crying her eyes out.”

Much like how his singing would calm his baby sister down, it also brings peace to himself. 

“It brings me peace whenever I sing, or if I'm drawing, if I'm making something, and, you know, it connects people, and that's something that is important to me,” Flynn said. 

Prior to pursuing music, Flynn did not get out in his community much. 

“Since then I've met so many people that I would have never spoken to and would have never ran into, and some of my best friends now have come from chasing this dream of music for a living,” Flynn said. 

Courtesy of Hunter Flynn

Flynn released a few singles in 2022 with 606 Records and is now working on his debut EP with Dan Micoff at Mill Springs Studio in Nancy, KY. 

“We started recording my EP back in December, it's kind of my first time doing stuff that's not just me and a guitar,” Flynn said. “There are still going to be a couple of tracks that are just me and the guitar on that, but there's a couple full band arrangements,” including Don Rogers on fiddle. 

“It's going to be something I think was worth the wait,” Flynn said. 

Flynn anticipated the process to only take a month or two, but in March he was still working on it, though it was nearing completion. 

“We're shooting for mid to the end of April, maybe first of May, just depending on how things go,” Flynn said. “Dan's been great to work with, he's really helped me figure out the sound that I'm going for, and, you know, he forces you to kind of take a step back and make sure that what you're doing is what you want to do. So I'm excited for it. I think that it'll be cool whenever it's finally finished.”

Flynn says the EP fits into the broad genre of country music, but he identifies himself more specifically as an Appalachian soul artist. 

“It's kind of a unique thing, and you can hear other artists from around this area that kind of fit into that niche category of it's not really country, it’s not really Americana, it's not really soul. It's somewhere in between all that, it’s Appalachian soul,” Flynn said.

Flynn hopes listeners will be able to relate to the topics his EP will cover. 

“I hope people can relate to some of the hard things that I have conveyed in my songs and, you know, maybe it'll help them feel like they're not so alone,” Flynn said. “Because I know that I felt that way at some points.”

“I just hope that people enjoy it and it makes you feel something. That's really the whole goal is that if my music can make you feel something, if it can take you out of the hardships, and you know, the chaos of the world, just for a couple minutes, then I've done my job, and I'm happy with that,” Flynn said.

Click here for show dates, booking, and listening.

Photo by Jordy Flynn, courtesy of Hunter Flynn