Over the last decade or so, the CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS have built up a strong and steady fan base for their quirky cocktail mix of Bay Area R&B, funk, Southern soul, Delta blues, and New Orleans second line – all delivered with an honest enthusiasm and a garnish of humour as befits their roots as street buskers!
Their latest project will be an album of cover versions, ‘Covers from the Cave’. (The band specialise in quirky takes of the familiar). Amongst the songs will be their versions of Sam Cooke’s ‘That’s Where It’s At’ and Dr John’s ‘Did She Mention My Name’. Before the album hits the sales racks the Honeydrops will be releasing each track as a single every two weeks or so. We’ve already had the band’s version of the Drifters’ ‘Under The Boardwalk’ and the team have just released their take on James Taylor’s ‘Fire And Rain’.
“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 favourite 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”.
CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS; ‘Fire And Rain’ out now
