Download Great music begins with great songs, and great songs are what the

Great music begins with great songs, and great songs are what the Honey Island Swamp Band is all
about. The band came together after Aaron Wilkinson (acoustic guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Chris
Mule’ (electric guitar, vocals) were marooned in San Francisco after the levee breaches following
Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, and had a chance encounter with fellow New Orleans
evacuees Sam Price (bass, vocals) and Garland Paul (drums, vocals) at John Lee Hooker’s Boom
Boom Room on Fillmore Street. They knew each other from having all played together in some form or
another in various New Orleans bands, and with the great unknown regarding their return to their
underwater hometown looming in the distance, they decided to put together a band and get some gigs
going. Fortunately, the Boom Boom Room’s owner Alex Andreas offered the band a weekly gig on the
spot.
Sunday nights at the Boom Boom Room soon became a favorite of Bay Area roots music lovers, who
have a long-standing affinity for New Orleans music and musicians. Two months into the residency,
sound engineer Robert Gatley approached the band with a rare opportunity — he wanted to record a
Honey Island Swamp Band album at the legendary Record Plant studios in Sausalito, where he
worked. The 7-song eponymous debut “Honey Island Swamp Band” came together beautifully, with
Wilkinson and Mulé both contributing favorite originals, and was received so well that they all decided
to continue the band upon moving back to New Orleans in 2007.
Honey Island Swamp Band‘s music has been described as “Bayou Americana” with timeless songs
from Wilkinson & Mulé, highlighted by Mulé’s searing guitar, Wilkinson’s sure-handed mandolin, and 4part vocal harmonies, all anchored by the powerful groove of Price & Paul’s Louisiana stomp rhythm
section. The addition of Trevor Brooks on Hammond B-3 organ to the HISB family in 2010 has
rounded out the band’s sound, which draws from a variety of influences in the world of roots music,
including artists such as Lowell George & Little Feat, The Band, Taj Mahal, Gram Parsons, Jerry
Garcia, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Reed, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and New Orleans’ own Earl King
and Dr. John.
In April 2009, the band released its first full-length album entitled Wishing Well. The album was wellreceived and based on the strength of such songs as “Natural Born Fool”, “Till the Money’s Gone”, and
the title track, Wishing Well was awarded 2009′s “Best Blues Album” by OffBeat Magazine, which
also named HISB as 2009’s “Best Emerging Artist” and 2010’s “Best Roots Rock Artist”. Most
recently HISB won the award for “Best Roots Rock Artist” in both 2011 & 2012 at the Big Easy
Awards, New Orleans’ most prestigious arts and entertainment honors.
2010’s Good To You was named to several national “Top Ten CDs of 2010″ lists, and has quickly
become a staple on the Crescent City’s legendary radio station WWOZ as well as on Sirius/XM
Bluesville. It features the southern strut of songs such as “Be Good”, “300 Pounds” and the album’s
first single, the epic crowd-favorite “Chocolate Cake.”
Now the band is gearing up for their first nationally distributed studio recording, Cane Sugar, on
Louisiana Red Hot Records in late July 2013. Produced by Grammy-winning producer John Porter,
the 12 new songs illuminate the mix of country-inflected rock, New Orleans funky blues and infectious
songwriting that makes Honey Island Swamp Band‘s music so familiar yet unique at the same time.
Cane Sugar is by far their most fully-realized recording to date and reflects the finely tuned unit the
band has become after incessant touring.
What the press has to say about Honey Island Swamp Band:
“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
“Blues, Southern rock boogie, Appalachian music and New Orleans swamp funk all factor into their
sound, but it’s decidedly their own.”
Keith Spera, New Orleans Times-Picayune
“Vintage country meets Gulf Coast boogie-woogie blues.”
Baltimore Sun
“The Honey Island Swamp is a real place. It resides near the border of Louisiana and Mississippi. It’s
therefore a fitting name for this band that draws inspiration from the music of those two states. With the
Honey Island Swamp Band, soul, country, R&B and blues are all on equal footing. The two man
songwriting/guitarist team of Chris Mulé and Aaron Wilkinson produce expressive, hook-laden tunes
that honor songcraft while respecting the groove.” Jambase.com
“What a fine band this is – an utterly refreshing, unpretentious group of first-rate instrumentalists who
also sing engagingly. Their music is as delicious as their name.”
Susan Peña, The Reading Eagle
“Wilkinson’s songs lean toward country rock in the vein of the Band, early Eagles, or Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Mule’s songs have a more rhythm and blues edge and a cynical, kiss-off sentiments as in ‘I can’t live
the way / you’re killing me.’”
David Kunian, Offbeat Magazine
“Straddling the line between soulful funk and country rock, Good To You cranks out good time tunes
from the Crescent City, carrying the torch for forbearers like the Subdudes and Radiators.”
Honest Tune Magazine
“A jolly rocking, sweet, swampy set of travelin’, drinkin’ and lovin’ trouble songs. . . 50 minutes of
catchy hooks and gen-you-wine blue-eyed soul from one of New Orleans' hardest working barroom
bands.”
Chris Rose, New Orleans Times Picayune
“Whether moving easily from moments Dead infused or Dr. John influenced, their self-described Bayou
Americana sound never loses sight of its swampy swagger or solo driven joy.”
Jim Brock, EyeOnTheMusic.com
“The Honey Island Swamp Band has matured from a burgeoning local act to a regional powerhouse to
a touring outfit poised for a national breakthrough…it has garnered a sizable fan base across the
country and served up two worthy studio efforts (2009’s Wishing Well and 2010’s Good to You).”
Aaron Lafont, Offbeat Magazine
www.honeyislandswampband.com