The Honey Island Swamp Band are a thrilling, eclectic band that defies genre conventions, renders song structures elastic, and wholeheartedly stresses that the song reigns supreme.
Since they formed in 2005 in San Francisco after their displacement from New Orleans via Katrina – and subsequently relocated back home – the band has evolved to embody contemporary roots music.
The fivesome – bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Wilkinson, guitarist and vocalist Lee Yankee, bassist Sam Price, keyboardist Chris Spies, and drummer and vocalist Garland Paul – is about to release their most satisfying, consolidative album to date: Custom Deluxe, out October 27 on Color Red Music.
Songs like the kinetic “High River Rag,” authoritative “Wildfire” and blues-rocking “Sugar For Sugar” display these musical omnivores at a new zenith.
“We’re definitely melody-driven, vocal-driven, lyric-driven,” Wilkinson explains of the Honey Island Swamp Band’s modus operandi at this juncture, with Custom Deluxe. “We like something that’s new, yet sounds like it could have been a hit that you didn’t know about.”
Pre-order the album here.
“Their all encompassing sound of blues, roots, country, and soul has been described as “Bayou Americana.” – No Depression
Honey Island Swamp Band is:
Aaron Wilkinson – vocals, guitar, mandolin, harmonica
Lee Yankie – guitar, vocals
Chris Spies – keyboards
Sam Price – bass, vocals
Garland Paul – drums, vocals
The Honey Island Swamp Band catalog also includes five award winning albums – Honey Island Swamp Band (2007), Wishing Well (2009), Good to You (2012), Cane Sugar (2014) and Demolition Day (2016) – each of which was named Roots Rock Album of the Year by New Orleans’ prestigious Offbeat Magazine.
“Somewhere, there exists a dark, smoky bar with a jukebox that spins George Jones, Gram Parsons, Delbert McClinton, and Little Feat. And if that fantasy honky‐tonk lights your Marlboro, you need to know about Honey Island Swamp Band.” – Broward‐Palm Beach New Times
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