Hunter Valentine is an alternative rock band formed in 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Hunter Valentine have a moderate fan base in southern Ontario.
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Hunter Valentine | |
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![]() Hunter Valentine, at the SXSW festival of Austin, Texas in March 2011 | |
Background information | |
Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Genres | Indie rock Alternative rock Pop rock Indie pop |
Years active | 2004–present |
Labels | True North Records Tommy Boy Universal Music |
Members | Kiyomi McCloskey Laura Petracca Aimee Bessada Leanne Bowes |
Past members | Adrienne Lloyd Somer Bingham Veronica Sanchez |
Website | www.huntervalentine.com |
The current members of Hunter Valentine are Kiyomi McCloskey, Laura Petracca, Leanne Bowes and Aimee Bessada. They signed with True North Records in fall 2006, and released their first full-length album, The Impatient Romantic, on April 10, 2007.[1] Hunter Valentine has also been the staff band at Buck's Rock Performing and Creative Arts Camp in New Milford, Connecticut.[2] In the fall of 2009, the band recorded a self funded 7 song album with Ian Blurton after they were released by True North Records. The band traveled to NYC numerous times hoping to attract attention from labels, and signed with Tommy Boy shortly after. In 2010, they released an EP titled "Lessons From The Late Night", which released in Canada on April 17, and then released worldwide on May 11 of the same year. In 2012, Hunter Valentine's [3] tour was documented on Season 3 of the television series The Real L Word on Showtime.[4] They were the opening act for Cyndi Lauper in 2013 on the North American leg of the She's So Unusual: 30th Anniversary Tour. In July 2014, Hunter Valentine joined the lineup for traveling rock festival Vans Warped Tour, and was featured on VH1's Make or Break: The Linda Perry Project that same summer.
Kiyomi McCloskey is the lead guitarist and vocalist in the band Hunter Valentine. She has cited Neil Young, Rolling Stones, Robert Johnson, Lucinda Williams and Janis Joplin as influences. McCloskey was featured on the third season of the series The Real L Word, a lesbian based TV show on Showtime.
Laura Petracca is the drummer in Hunter Valentine. She began playing drums at a very young age, and competed successfully in many local drum competitions. She was inspired by many classic rock and grunge rock artists.
Leanne is the newest bassist for Hunter Valentine, joining in early 2013.
Lisa Bianco plays guitar and keyboards and joined the band in 2014.
Aimee played guitar and keyboards in the band. She left Hunter Valentine during the course of the production of Make or Break: The Linda Perry Project in 2014.[5]
Adrienne Lloyd began her musical career at a young age. She studied many bass types, but particularly the upright bass performance. She is a classically trained bassist.
Somer Bingham plays guitar and keyboards. She met Kiyomi when her band shared a bill with Hunter Valentine at a venue in the East Village in 2008. Somer also fronts her own project, Clinical Trials, a grunge/punk/electro duo based in Brooklyn.
Veronica, aka Vero, left Hunter Valentine earlier in 2013. She played bass guitar.
They have toured Southern Ontario with bands such as, The Cliks, Dragonette, Kids on TV, Kelly and the Kelly Girls, Scandalnavia, Clothes Make the Man, Dead Letter Dept., Hexes and Ohs, Drowning Girl, Love Kills, Dance Yourself to Death, Sam Roberts, Sick of Sarah, Social Code, and Queen Caveat. In 2012 they toured with Sum 41 and IAmDynamite, and in 2013 they toured with Cyndi Lauper as her opening act in North America.
Year | Song | Director(s) | Album |
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2007 | Typical | RT! | The Impatient Romantic |
Staten Island Dream Tour | |||
2008 | Break This | Colin Minihan | |
2010 | The Stalker | Taylor Cohen | Lessons from the Late Night |
Revenge | Colin Minihan | ||
2012 | Liar Liar | Kevin Custer | Collide and Conquer |
2013 | The Pulse | Stephen Scott |