“The California Honeydrops...evoke the greasy rumble of Booker T and channel the spiritual ecstasy of Sly and the Family Stone.” -Rolling Stone

Formed in the subway systems of Oakland, retro-soul outfit The California Honeydrops are an electrifying group that defy convention at every turn. They’ve become a mainstay at festivals including Byron Bay Bluesfest (Australia), Outside Lands, Monterey Jazz, Lightning In A Bottle, and touring with B.B. King, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, and Allen Toussaint. Led by the enigmatic and energetic frontman, Lech Wierzynski, and drummer Benjamin Malament, each member of the band is a virtuoso in their own rite — Yanos “Johnny Bones” Lustig on saxophone, Lorenzo Loera on keyboards/guitar, Beaumont Beaullieu on bass, and regularly accompanied by Oliver Tuttle on trombone, Leon Cotter on saxophone/clarinet, and Miles Lyons on trombone/sousaphone — navigating through a vast repertoire of original songs and timeless classics every night. But what truly sets them apart is their unwavering commitment to the art of improvisation - a skill so finely honed that they have completely abandoned the use of set lists and no two shows are ever the same. Off stage, their music has been streamed more than 200 million times, and placed in a variety of TV and films, including “Dead To Me,” “Alaska Daily,” “Black-ish” and more. They are currently touring North America in support of their new deluxe album, 'Soft Spot'.

https://ineffable.to/softspotdeluxe
 

The Honeydrops have come a long way since guitarist and trumpeter Lech Wierzynkski and drummer Ben Malament started busking in an Oakland BART station, but the band has stayed true to that organic, street-level feel. With the additions of Johnny Bones on tenor sax and clarinet, Lorenzo Loera on keyboards, and Beau Bradbury on bass, they’ve built a powerful full-band sound to support Wierzynski’s vocals.

 

Listening to Lech sing, it can be a surprise that he was born in Warsaw, Poland, and raised by Polish political refugees. He learned his vocal stylings from contraband American recordings of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Louis Armstrong, and later at Oberlin College and on the club circuit in Oakland, California. Bringing all those influences together with the rest of the band’s diverse experiences into a unified musical vision, the California Honeydrops expect to play parties for a long time.

 

 Discography:

    Like You Mean It (2013)
     Honeydrops Live (2012)
    Spreadin' Honey (2010)
    Soul Tub (2008)

Since 1995 Alanis Morissette has been one of the most influential singer-songwriter-musicians in contemporary music. Her deeply expressive music and performances have earned vast critical praise, 14 Canadian Juno Awards, 7 Grammy® Awards (with an additional 14 nominations), a Golden Globe nomination and sales of over 60 million albums worldwide. Morissette’s 1995 debut, “JAGGED LITTLE PILL,” was followed by such eclectic and acclaimed albums as “SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE” (1998), “MTV UNPLUGGED” (1999), “UNDER RUG SWEPT” (2002), “SO-CALLED CHAOS” (2004), “JAGGED LITTLE PILL ACOUSTIC” (2005), her greatest hits album, “THE COLLECTION” (2005), “FLAVORS OF ENTANGLEMENT”(2008), HAVOC AND BRIGHT LIGHTS (2012), and “JAGGED LITTLE PILL: COLLECTOR’S EDITION” (2015), released in honor of the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking debut, as well as musical contributions to theatrical releases, some of which include “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “Prince of Persia,” and “City of Angels.” Alanis has acted on the big and small screen with roles in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Dogma,” “Sex and the City,” “Weeds” and “Up All Night,” and has appeared as a celebrity guest mentor on the 2nd season of “The Voice.” In 2015, Alanis was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Outside of entertainment, she is an avid supporter of female empowerment, as well as spiritual, psychological and physical wellness. She has contributed her writing to a variety of outlets and forums, and participates in worships, special speaking engagements and keynote speaking worldwide. Alanis has also donated her time to a number of causes that help raise awareness and funding on a number of issues including Equality Now which benefits international human rights, Music for Relief, UN Global Tolerance for which she was honored for her contributions for promoting tolerance through the arts, “Every Mother Counts” CD for which she contributed her song “Magical Child” to help prevent needless maternal deaths, and P.S Arts which has worked tirelessly to provide access to the arts through in-school programs to thousands of children in some of the most under-served neighborhoods in California. Alanis has also been outspoken on the issue of home child birth, its benefits and challenges for mothers across the world. Currently she is working on new music as well as a book, which will be released in late 2016. For more information see www.alanis.com.

It’s finally here, the new album Greetings From The Neon Frontier is available now! It’s the product of a lot of miles, broken strings, and pouring our hearts into a record, hope y’all like it as much as we enjoyed making it. http://wmna.sh/neonfrontier

Vanguard Records, part of Concord Bicycle Music’s Fantasy Label Group, is one of the world’s leading independent record labels. Its eclectic roster of quality artists includes Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Switchfoot, O.A.R., Flogging Molly, Parachute, Sallie Ford, Matt Nathanson, Chris Isaak, Barenaked Ladies, Greg Laswell, Trevor Hall, Indigo Girls, and more. It’s rich history of catalog artists features Levon Helm, Merle Haggard, Joan Baez, Mindy Smith, Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, Junior Wells, John Fahey, to name a few.

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