September 8, 2023 – Acclaimed New Orleans-based blues-roots-rock quintet Honey Island Swamp Band has released their new single “Gone” and announced their sixth studio album, Custom Deluxe, will be released on Friday, October 27th. “Gone,” the first track recorded for the new album, was tracked at Eagle Wind Sound studio in Winter Park, Colorado, owned by the Alan Parsons’ Project’s singer, PJ Olsson. PRESS HERE to listen to “Gone” and PRESS HERE to watch the official music video, directed by Daniel Sanda. Custom Deluxe, the band’s debut release for Color Red, is available to pre-order/pre-save now – PRESS HERE to pre-save on DSPs, PRESS HERE to pre-order vinyl, and PRESS HERE to pre-order on CD.
“‘Gone’ was a really fun tune to write and always a pleasure to perform,” shares front man Aaron Wilkinson. “I love songs with clever lyrics and a lot of them. Singing these harmonies with the guys in the band never gets old.”
Of the new album, Wilkinson adds, “In the years it took to make this album, we all went through unprecedented changes. It seems like ages since we released a new record, so we are just thrilled and feel extremely blessed to finally share these new songs with the world. And getting to put this out through Color Red is such a bonus. Not only is Eddie Roberts a personal friend, but he and the entire team are among the finest musicians and creative talents we have ever had the pleasure to work with. We are proud and extremely thankful to be a part of the Color Red family.”
“Honey Island Swamp Band are longtime friends and collaborators,” says Color Red label head Eddie Roberts. “From first meeting Chris Spies when I was living in NOLA and we played the legendary Maple Leaf together, or the time the band brought me on stage for their Jazz & Heritage Festival set, which was my first time playing the famed fest, there’s always been a strong musical connection between us. Not to mention that we tracked a couple of the album’s songs at our Color Red studio. It was an obvious decision to bring the band on board for this great album release on Color Red.”
Custom Deluxe marks the most satisfying, consolidative album to date for Honey Island Swamp Band and the follow-up to 2016’s Demolition Days. Songs like the kinetic “High River Rag,” authoritative “Wildfire” and blues-rocking “Sugar for Sugar” display these musical omnivores at a new zenith. The 10 songs on Custom Deluxe, produced by Jack Miele and Wilkinson, were recorded at various studios around the U.S. during off days amidst a heady touring cycle, including on top of a mountain in Colorado and a lengthy session in the Big Easy. Previously released single “Second Son” was recorded at Color Red’s Denver studio with Roberts accompanying on the song. Full track listing for Custom Deluxe below.
Honey Island Swamp Band will head out on the road this fall in support of Custom Deluxe including various shows in New Orleans and select festival appearances. The band will officially celebrate the release of Custom Deluxe on Saturday, October 28th with a hometown album release party at Maple Leaf in New Orleans with The Lucky Strokes. See below for upcoming dates and visit www.honeyislandswampband.com for more information.
Since forming in 2005 in San Francisco after their displacement from New Orleans via Katrina, and subsequently relocating back home, Honey Island Swamp 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 a thrilling, eclectic band that defies genre conventions, renders song structures elastic, and wholeheartedly stresses that the song reigns supreme. Their music is melody-driven, vocal-driven, and lyric-driven, with influences that range from Jason Isbell, John Prine, Little Feat, Junior Wells and The Meters to Fleetwood Mac, Taj Mahal, Iron and Wine, Peter Gabriel, and Beck. Throughout their storied career, Honey Island Swamp Band has performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival for 15 consecutive years as well as appearances at Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Americana Fest Nashville, Thunder Bay Blues Fest, Jam Cruise, and many more, and have toured and/or performed alongside the likes of JJ Grey and Mofro, Leftover Salmon, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Ave, Soul Rebels, Galactic, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Derek Trucks Band, Anders Osborne, and North Mississippi Allstars.
As a whole, Custom Deluxe shows the Honey Island Swamp Band to represent the best of two worlds: a band capable of sharp, solid writing, who can also bend and stretch the material live in the spirit of Van Morrison or the Allman Brothers Band. After so many years together, the band is more capable than ever of surprising you and sticking in your craw.
