Though she shares a name (and manager) with blues pianist and vocalist Kelley Hunt, Kansas City-based singer-songwriter Kelly Hunt has a sound distinctly her own. The Tennessee native's songwriting is steeped in the Americana tradition — her songs spare and intimate, as heard on her debut album Even The Sparrow . Released in May 2019, the record has already earned Hunt a global audience and acclaim from outlets such as Rolling Stone and PopMatters . It was selected as a finalist for the International Folk Awards Album of The Year. Hunt performs at Barleycorn's on Thursday, Jan. 16. She spoke with KMUW from her home in Kansas City. Tell me about the process of making Even The Sparrow . This was a little bit of a longer process? It was my first attempt at making a record. I spent the better part of two-and-a-half to three years making it. A lot of that was just figuring out what that entailed. I was working full-time and recording piecemeal on weekends, just figuring out how to be in the