Hunter and the Bear on stage. Photography Francesca Paolozzi

It would be a pretty difficult task to meet a more down to earth group of guys than Hunter and the Bear. In their own words, they play the kind of music they want to listen to, and are three best friends who just want to play as many gigs as possible, due to their love of being on the road. Their sound, is according to Will “a folky mix of rock and country with an emphasis on rock”. It’s a unique sound, one that you might not necessarily hear too much in the UK these days, particularly since the disappearance of a particular band who I shan’t name. But as a threesome they all share different tastes which brings about their sound. “Will is a massive Elton John fan, Josh is a massive fan of Arctic Monkeys, we all listen to rock n roll, folk and country and that mix is what brings us our sound”, states Jimmy. There is no particular influence when it comes to writing, with the boys showing each other the different sounds they have been listening to and then taking it from there. “The way it usually works is someone will show the rest of the band a group they’ve been listening to, and then the others will either be like no or yes and then if it’s a yes we go through a period of everyone listening to the band”, according to Josh. “Its funny though coz when we listen back to our songs we can tell who we’ve been listening to at that time, but in terms of sitting down and thinking who do we want to write like, is not really a thing that we do”, Jimmy adds firmly.

Photography Francesca Paolozzi

Although the three of them are now based in London, it is a far cry from where they spent their upbringing, with Josh hailing from Yorkshire and Jimmy and Will both Scotsmen. Moving down south to the capital city could prove daunting for any young group of lads, but is a choice they are starting to see the rewards of now. “For me where I’m from is so far out in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains by the sea and things like that and its such a different lifestyle and its the simple life up there, people love what they do up there, there’s a big fishing community and things like that”, Will reveals solemnly. “I got used to the city when I was at uni (in Newcastle), Jimmy doesn’t live in a city either even though he sounds like he’s from Glasgow. It does take getting used to, London is massive. But it’s wicked though”. London is often said to be the place to be if you are in a band and want to make it, and is a view shared by the group, with Josh saying “The thing has been quite obvious from the start, people have been saying to us if you want to do this then you’ve got to be in London. There’s no point being somewhere else”.

No matter how impressive a year 2013 has been, Hunter and the Bear are looking for more next year. When asked about their plans for next year, Jimmy immediately responds “A new EP for sure and a big festival season”. Josh back this up, saying “The masses are the target right now and we just want to be at one every weekend and be on the road, we love being on the road”. Going from strength to strength seems to run in the blood in the group, and they never seem to be left resting on their laurels. Your aims change all the time, when we started our aim was to play once every couple of weeks then it was once a week, then we wanna play here, want to play a festival, when you reach these things you can’t believe it at the time, but you want to move on so quickly to the next thing, so hopefully we’ll keep moving that way”, states Will, reassuring the fact that they won’t be happy sat on their backsides allowing their instruments to gather dust. Josh wraps things up by saying “We’re pretty hungry for more as well, we’ve got a lot of ambition. We’ve got to that point now where the cogs are moving and we want more, so I don’t think the trains gonna stop”.

Photography Francesca Paolozzi

As the three of them step out onto the stage at 02 Academy 2 at Islington, they are welcomed with not just warm applause, but volcanic eruption hot applause. As they effortlessly glide through their set with tracks from their recent EP Dusty Road amongst others, their fans adoring eyes never venture far from the stage. Not happy with the length of their set, they come back on for an encore, and you can tell by the bewildering looks etched across their faces that they did not expect this kind of reception. As lead single from Dusty Road Forrest On The Hill gets it’s second play of the night, you start to feel that something special is brewing up here.

Fresh from a summer that saw them gig all over London and play with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Kasabian at Hard Rock Calling, the folk rock trio are now ready to unleash their debut E.P, Dusty Road. At a time when folk rock is at it’s most sought after for decades, the band have timed it to perfection, and following the recent news that Mumford and Sons are set to take a break from music, Hunter And The Bear could be the heirs to their throne atop the kingdom of British folk rock. Tracks full of raw emotion, enough energy to make the duracell bunny look like a lazy stop out and a DIY ethic to put other bands to shame, Hunter And The Bear have the exact hand needed to make sure 2014 builds on the groundwork they set this year.

Dusty Road seems destined to make people sit up and take notice. Consisting of four tracks that each have their individual qualities to set them aside from each other, the only complaint is that it is only four songs. Opener and lead single Forest On The Hill is three minutes of punchy acoustic goodness, with the husky vocals giving the track some strength while harmonies in the background make for a soothing, gentle start to the record. Second track The North is more of a sombre affair, with beautiful flowing strings adding another dimension to their already versatile collection. Lead singer Will’s southern drawl-esque vocals act as the ideal voice to capture the story, which makes you want to jump on a horse and head straight for the sun.

Title track Dusty Road is the most melodic song on the E.P, with a soft opening minute and a half featuring some docile acoustic quality before the foot tapping instrumental chorus kicks in, giving a full blooded folk sentiment about the song as the strings make a triumphant return and close the song emphatically. Closing tune Taliesin is a more up tempo affair, with a joyful feeling a constant throughout to keep a cheesy grin a permanent fixture before a huge ending with gang vocals.”You are not alone, brothers we will roll”. Alone they are not, and brothers they are. It’s not so much a roll Hunter And The Bear are currently on, more of a full steam ahead that will see the group take 2014 by storm. Dusty Road comes out on 28th October.