Woman on Fire Much like her music, Phoebe Hunt is easy to connect with. She smiles when she talks, she smiles when she sings and she radiates positivity with every word and every thought. The 29-year-old singer-songwriter gained a following performing with The Hudsons and The Belleville Outfit, rarely singing without the accompaniment of her fiddle—an instrument she’s been practicing for 23 years. Last June, Hunt displayed her playfully demure range with the release of her first full-length solo album, Live at the Cactus Café. “The Cactus Café is such a part of Austin and our history—it’s legendary,” she says, remembering the night she recorded the album. “I get to share that stage with so many people who have been there before, and it’s like their energy is collected there. It’s really powerful.” This month, she relives that night on a Northeastern tour with bandmates Reed Turner and Pat Harris. Her heart is almost as big as her voice. Along with singing and writing, Hunt prioritizes volunteering with the Amala Foundation throughout the world. The Austin foundation brings together kids—many of them refugee and immigrant children who have experienced extreme poverty, violence, war or child labor—and empowers them to lead and serve the world in a more peaceful way. In August, Hunt shared her love of music at the foundation’s Global Youth Peace Summit in Austin, and the following week she invited children from the summit to write and record music with her during a five-day program she founded, Fuel Our Fire. After the peace summit, she says, the children “are open, receptive, alive, awakened and at the height of experiencing creative energy.” The goal is to teach them how to apply their musical talents in a meaningful way, and in doing so, she finds it inspires her own songwriting. “You have to give fearlessly,” Hunt says. “You get so much back.” phoebehuntmusic.com —Jane Kellogg
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