SECOND SINGLE FROM UPCOMING COVERS FROM THE CAVE
“One of the best groups I’ve ever heard…
I wish I was that good.”—David Crosby
The California Honeydrops’ cover of James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” is out today via Tubtone Records—stream it HERE. The track marks the second single from their just-announced album, Covers from the Cave, a compilation of songs by some of the band’s many musical heroes. The album will be released song by song, with a new track rolling out every two weeks—see below for planned track list.
The Honeydrops will celebrate the single’s release and the announcement of the album with a free livestreamed concert from Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, CA, March 6, at 6:30 p.m. PACIFIC. The band will donate 25% of all donations to several Winter Storm Relief Funds in Texas: Casa Marianella, DFW Mutual Aid and Houston Harris County Winter Storm Relief. More information available HERE.
“Believe it or not, I just started listening to James Taylor this winter,” says Honeydrops frontman and co-founder Lech Wierzynski on his inspiration for the cover. “Though I love many of his tunes, lyrically I immediately resonated with this song. I only found out later that it was one of his most famous and most covered—and, according to the internet, one of his least favorite to play… One of the upsides of these last strange months has been exploring slower and sadder songs that I wouldn’t get to play on those wild and sweaty nights with the Honeydrops. Thanks James Taylor for this classic.”
The California Honeydrops have kept themselves busy throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Covers from the Cave began as a pandemic video series, amassing more than 14 million views of the album’s first single, The Drifters’ “Under the Boardwalk.” View/share the video HERE. They also launched a podcast, “The Bee’s Wax,” exploring the ways in which they write and record their music. Episodes can be found HERE. And in lieu of a fully cancelled year of touring, they have been offering free weekly livestreams, mostly from Wierzynski’s house (which the band calls “The Blues Cave”), and on special occasions from the historic Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, CA. Reaching audiences of over 25,000 per stream, the band continues to donate 25% of each week’s revenue to a different charity as part of their Spreadin’ Honey philanthropic initiative; check out the streams HERE.
Covers from the Cave follows the band’s recently released EP Just One More, And Then Some, live albums Remember When: Vol. 3 and Honeydrops Live 2019, and 2018’s studio double album Call It Home: Vol. 1 & 2, which Billboard praised as “a new level of ambition” for the band, and about which No Depression raved, “There’s something for everybody here, a fun-filled, funky goodie basket for all occasions.” VICE called the title track “a smooth, sensuous song, with a guitar part evoking a hot summer day, an organ that sends you to the front pew and a brass section that feels like something straight out of The Blues Brothers,” while Rolling Stone noted that it evokes “the greasy rumble of Booker T and the MGs in the opening bars before channeling the spiritual ecstasy of Sly and the Family Stone in the soaring choruses.”
Co-founded by Wierzynski and Ben Malament, The Honeydrops got their start busking in Oakland, California where they quickly developed a passionate following that has continued to grow over the course of more than a decade of recording and nonstop American, European and Australian touring. Joined by Johnny Bones on tenor sax and clarinet, Lorenzo Loera on keyboards and Beau Bradbury on bass, the band has stayed true to the group’s diverse sound and street-level origins, drawing on musical influences including Bay Area R&B, funk, Southern soul, Delta blues and New Orleans second-line.
In addition to their own extensive touring, The Honeydrops were honored to support Bonnie Raitt throughout her 2016-17 North American tour and have performed in support of B. B. King, Allen Toussaint, Buddy Guy and Dr. John, among others. They have sold out headline shows at venues across the U.S. and performed at major festivals worldwide including Outside Lands, Monterey Jazz, High Sierra, Bluesfest Byron Bay, North Sea Jazz Festival, Edmonton Folk Music Festival and many more. Widely acclaimed for the energy captured in both their live performances and recordings, the group remains dedicated to fostering a genuine connection with their audiences and listeners.
“The whole point is to erase the boundaries between the crowd and us,” Wierzynski says, “to make people become a part of the whole thing by dancing along, singing, picking the songs and generally coming out of their shells.”
COVERS FROM THE CAVE
TRACKLIST
1. Under the Boardwalk (The Drifters)
2. Fire and Rain (James Taylor)
3. You Never Can Tell (Chuck Berry)
4. Bloodshot Eyes (Wynonie Harris)
5. Ripple (Grateful Dead)
6. Angel from Montgomery (John Prine)
7. Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You (Otis Clay)
8. Up and Down World (Bobby Bland)
9. That’s Where it’s At (Sam Cooke)
10. Isn’t it Wonderful (Ray Charles)
11. Did She Mention My Name (Dr. John)
12. Somebody Change the Lock (Dr. John)
