Van Hunt

With his smooth voice, classic-minded songwriting and ear for vintage production, Van Hunt is one of the leaders in the modern R&B and neo soul movement. The Ohio-born singer discovered his talents early thanks to growing up in a musically-inclined household, and was playing drums and the saxophone by the time he was eight. After a brief stint producing hip-hop beats in Atlanta, he began making connections in Los Angeles and went to work on his debut album. The resulting work, 2000's eponymous LP, was released on Capitol Records and introduced the mainstream to Hunt's sleek pop songs full of jazzy textures and dusty soul elements. The success of the album led to a Grammy nomination for "Best Urban/Alternative Performance" and subsequently cemented him as an exciting retro-channeling singer/songwriter to keep an eye on.