It is an exciting time for local singer and composer HunTer Leite, a Benoni girl at heart whose love for singing has skyrocketed her to international fame.
After HunTer won the award for Texas Best Female Vocalist in Jefferson, Texas, in November last year, there is nothing holding her back.
She competed against singers from 17 nations from around the world.
After the success in Texas, HunTer was nominated for the first South African Country Music Awards since the mid-’70s in Pretoria on October 26 and won the Best Original Song Award for Every Woman.
She also won the award for Best Songwriter/Composer.
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The competition was open to the public for voting and a panel of professionals from the South African Country Music Artist Foundation also cast their votes.
HunTer’s new album will be launched on November 28 at a restaurant in Bonaero Park.
She has released five albums to date, but this is her first English country album.
The album, Kicking Up Dust, is also the title track. This song is a country ballad written by HunTer and was inspired after she watched a western film.
HunTer grew up on a plot in Jarrah Road, Benoni Agricultural Holdings (BAH).
“My life was about going to school at Rynfield Primary School, doing sports after school and, best of all, singing and practising what my vocal coach, Tanya Kramer, had taught me that week,” she said.
“Every afternoon, I would spend hours standing in the passage of our house which had a huge attic-like section with divine reverberation, and sing my heart out.
“From Tony Braxton to Cher to Laura Branigan, I would belt out my songs as if I was this famous rock star – and how funny that today I am a professional singer travelling the world.”
HunTer lived in Benoni until the age of 21 when she married and had a son, Kyle, who is now 16 years old.
“I moved to Durban when I was 21 and returned to Benoni when I was 27 after my husband was killed in a car accident in 2005.
“There’s no place like Benoni!”
She has been living in Atlasville for nine years.
“If I became a millionaire I would buy my parents’ old plot in BAH back and turn it into a music school – just for that passage as I think it’s where stars are discovered.”
While singing from a very young age, HunTer started taking it seriously after winning a karaoke competition when she was 13.
She then went for vocal training with Tanya Kramer in Morehill, Benoni, and just grew from strength to strength.
At the age of 17, she started getting booked for her own performances at restaurants and festivals.
“My mother always played music, from classical to ballads, rock to pop, in our home from early in the morning. I fell in love with a number of powerhouse vocalists. I would belt out while listening to the tapes or records, all the while trying to do my chores.
“I plan to do tours around South Africa and abroad, so folks can contact me now to secure dates for shows in 2019.”
She is also recording her next album.
“I still have a few more songs to write but I am excited as my collaborating songwriter, Claudia Cox, has a few aces up her sleeve.”
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