When James Hunter calls himself a pretender, he’s not so much being self-deprecating as he is paying homage to his influences. As a white, British singer and musician whose allegiance is to the vintage rhythm and blues associated with the likes of Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson and Ray Charles, Hunter understands that there is a disconnect between his own background and the lives lived by his heroes. “Stylistically, yes, I’m a copyist, even though we put our own thing on it,” says the 53-year-old leader of The James Hunter Six. “People are too scared to bastardize it and put their own stamp on it, but I’m writing real songs. R&B is pop music for black people—that’s all it ever was,” he adds. “It’s accessible and it touches the heart and it’s also a bit of fun.”

Among Hunter’s most approving fans are the very artists who were part of the original R&B and soul music wave. “When we worked with [the late] Allen Toussaint, he was quite impressed that we were doing songs by The 5 Royales,” Hunter says, citing one of the great unsung ‘50s vocal groups. “Even back in the day, it was only black people who knew about The 5 Royales.”

Hunter has been at it for three decades now—his early band, Howlin’ Wilf & The Vee-Jays, garnered devoted fans such as Van Morrison, who took the group on tour with him. During Hunter’s earliest days as a performer, busking on the streets of London, “Somebody would come up and go: ‘Do you do any Queen?’ But then, you’d have some old black guy come by and nod his head approvingly,” Hunter says with a laugh.

It’s only recently, with albums like 2013’s Minute by Minute and this year’s Hold On!—The James Hunter Six’s debut for Daptone Records—that the magnetism on display at Hunter’s live gigs has been captured accurately on disc. Produced by Daptone founder Gabriel Roth, Hold On! nails the band’s irresistible groove and Hunter’s incendiary vocal performance in a way that was somewhat elusive before.

“I didn’t have any idea how good this bloke would make us sound,” says Hunter about Roth’s production. “It’s the same feeling I had when I first got my Vox amp after 26 years of playing through a piece of crap. It sounds a bit hokey to say, but there is a bit of a family vibe about Daptone. It’s a bit like Motown without the megalomaniac.”