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The guitar of Decatur's Steve Hunter is heard every day around the world.
Hunter has recorded and played live with such diverse talents as Aerosmith, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Bette Midler and Meat Loaf.
A 1966 graduate of MacArthur, Hunter played in hobby bands through high school. While serving in the Army, he won a United Services Organization contest, and toured Army bases in the Far East with a USO show.
He returned to Decatur in 1970, and via John "Polar Bear" Sauter, he was introduced to and landed a job with Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels. Shortly thereafter, he developed a reputation as a go-to studio guitarist for numerous rock acts. His occasional solo records, with the exception of a pair of songs, have been instrumental, because he doesn't like his singing voice.
He earned a writing credit on Reed's “Rock and Roll Animal” album with his "Intro" to "Sweet Jane." He also has a music writing credit and is part of the cast for the Bette Midler film "The Rose." He wrote a song recorded specifically for David Lee Roth's greatest hits album. In 1995, he put on a dance-and-music performance of his creation called “Voodoo Nights.”
The show was back-to-back nights at the Lincoln Square Theatre. He was the first instrumentalist to be voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame He continues to work as a guitarist to this day.
He's currently polishing the newest in a series of solo albums. He also played on Glen Campbell's 2011 album, “Ghost on the Canvas,” and appears on a trio of songs on Alice Cooper's new “Paranormal” album.
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I've enjoyed Steve Hunter's work for decades, having been originally introduced to him on Peter Gabriel's first album with him and Robert Fripp tearing it up. Good to know he comes right outta Decatur.
I really didn't know who Steve was until the mid 70's. My friends and I went to a showing of Alice Cooper's h film Welcome to my nightmare and Steve was in his baking band. When he came on the screen people in the audience were cheering. I then found out he was from Decatur. Later I had a co-worker that said he lived in the same street Steve grew up on and he'd watch him play in his garage. This after I comment on music he was playing had Steve on it. He stated he never knew he became famous. I found that hard to believe.
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