Staff photo by Dan Henry/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Local kids have come together to form a Jackson 5 tribute band performing in Chattanooga and the surrounding area. Band members on top row, from left, Charles Hunter, Cornelius Moss, Chazz Hunter, and Tristian Winston. Bottom row, from left, Solomon King and Hunter Moss.Chattanooga is 500 miles south of Detroit, but one local family is committed to bringing a little Motown soul to the Scenic City.
For the last two years, twin brothers Chazz and Charles Hunter, 12, their nephews Hunter and Cornelius Moss, 9 and 11, and family friends Solomon King, 10, and Tristian Winston, 11, have taken the stage as the Hunter Moss Group, performing hits by The Jackson 5 and other classic funk/soul artists.
The boys said their interest in the Jacksons’ music began shortly after Michael Jackson’s death in 2009 when they first watched “The Jacksons: An American Dream.” The 1992 film chronicled how the Indiana family discovered its collective talent and went on to become a funk/pop sensation in the ’60s and ’70s.
“Every time I hear their music it … makes me want to dance because their music is so exciting – the beats and the notes and the keys,” said Chazz, who takes on the same central vocal role as Michael.
“When I watched the video, I was like, ‘Wow,’ and I just wanted to start doing it,” he added.
Besides mimicking the band’s vibrant costuming, tight choreography and vocal harmonies, the Hunter Moss Group’s genesis shares much in common with The Jackson 5’s.
Like Joe Jackson, the Jackson family’s patriarch, Charles Hunter IV, serves as the Hunter Moss Group’s general manager.
Hunter grew up performing in a family gospel group The Hunter Singers. He said he and his daughter and son-in-law, Adrienne and Corey Moss, became aware of their children’s potential after the boys watched “American Dream” and began crafting their own dance routines.
“We noticed them and thought, ‘These kids have talent. Maybe we can help them out,’ ” Hunter said.
Now, Hunter books the band and guides the boys’ musical choices. His daughter and son-in-law help the boys with choreography and vocals, respectively. They were all impressed by their children’s initiative, Hunter said.
“We knew they had some talent, but we didn’t know they would come together that fast by themselves and put something together,” he said.
The Jackson 5 began its rise to fame in 1966 by performing The Temptations’ “My Girl” at an amateur talent show. Similarly, The Hunter Moss Group had its stage debut dancing to the same song at Wolftever Creek Elementary School’s talent show in 2009.
Based on crowd response, the boys were encouraged to return the following year. During the intervening months, they began playing their own music, and when they returned, they performed their first show paying tribute to The Jackson 5.
As comfortable as they have become onstage since then, playing in front of 400 of their friends was unnerving, Charles said.
“It was scary,” he said. “It was actually my first time doing something in front of a lot of kids. I didn’t know what their reaction was going to be.”
Despite the boys’ trepidation, the band came through, and the positive reaction they received was energizing, Cornelius said.
“It was fun that we played the music and how the kids and teachers liked us and clapped and cheered,” he said.
Hunter said he was a fan of The Jackson 5 growing up and finds it refreshing to see his children and grandchildren finding inspiration in the music of an earlier era.
“It makes me feel great they actually want to perform, that they want to be able to perform instruments,” he said. “To me, the full band is the thing.”
Just months after their debut as a Jackson 5 tribute, the boys were selected to perform in the Rock & Roll Spectacular at the Chattanooga Choo Choo’s Centennial Theater. Over the course of two years, they played about 12 weekend shows there, Hunter said.
Initially the band included several adult instrumentalists to accompany the younger performers, but Hunter began transitioning to an all-youth lineup last year. The band’s current drummer, Tristian, joined in November as part of that effort.
The group has a repertoire of about eight Jackson 5 songs and is preparing more, including pieces by other Motown artists such as The Temptations, during a pair of weekly, three-hour practices.
Hunter said he wants to push the band to the next level, beginning with booking more out-of-town performances and, eventually, writing original material. They have a show scheduled later this month at a high school in Clanton Ala., and a pending date at a club in Ohio.
The boys were given added incentive to push themselves last month after receiving a callback for the second round of auditions for NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” The group will find out in the coming weeks whether they made it through to the final rounds of auditions in Hollywood.
Even if they don’t make it past the contest’s initial rounds, Tristian said he would feel blessed by the opportunity to go.
“I thank God for it because many children don’t have opportunities to go that far,” he said. “I’ve never been there before, so I’m excited and looking forward to the trip.”
Regardless of whether the boys perform on TV, their parents said they are proud of how their children have grown as a result of their involvement with the group.
“They might have been shy and timid at first, but now, they’re not afraid to take on a challenge,” Adrienne Moss said. “I’ve seen them take on challenges where most kids would be afraid.
“They’ll get in a group huddle and say, ‘Let’s do this.’ “
All the boys said they value that camaraderie more than any future success and hope their group doesn’t suffer the same infighting that plagued many Motown groups, including The Jackson 5.
As long as they continue to demonstrate the same enthusiasm for the music, that shouldn’t be a problem, Hunter said.
“[The music] keeps them together,” he said. “What I like about it is that I get to spend time with my kids and my grandkids. I really appreciate that.
“It’s a joy to be around them just about every day. We’re all growing up together.”