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The addictive tunes that flood out of a ramshackle structure in Saskatoon's artistic City Park district come from HoneyBlu, likely writing, recording or jamming in their main floor studio. The five-piece alt-pop band formed in 2003, but took two years to settle on a permanent line-up. The core members stayed united, but it's true: they've had almost as many drummers as Spinal Tap.
Fronted by foxy jazz singer, Rachel Molder, the sound of HoneBlu is a mixed bag: music to watch, dance and drink a beer to. Guitarists Tony Zuck and Ryan Lejbak play the whole shebang, from grunge to pop to alternative, consisting of twangy licks that interweave between acoustic sounds and hard edge alt rock. The rhythm section is fueled by fiery Rick Paul on the bass and the rhythmical Chris Hallberg on drums.
HoneyBlu's influences are diverse, just as the musical tastes of the band members vary. If you take a little bit of 10,000 Maniacs, add some Nirvana, Neil Young, Bob Marley and early REM, then mix it together, well, you might say that HoneyBlu has that sound. The band has, however, created their own sound of catchy alt-pop.
HoneyBlu has released two demo EPs to critical acclaim. In October 2003, over 13 minutes from our upcoming lp, was released and contains fan favourites four aces and gravity. The Flatland Sessions, a five song EP released in July of 2005, was a recorded specifically for the audience at the Flatland Music Festival, and was only sold there. It contains sail away , a CBC radio favourite, and band fav be mine. Both EPs are sold-out and the band has no plans to re-release them. HoneyBlu records most of their performances and some of them end up on their web site as free downloads.
HoneyBlu is a local music scene darling, and draws increasing crowds every time they play. Molder captivates the audience with her lush, rousing style, augmented by a garage sale light show, which includes an ever-changing line-up of TVs, Christmas lights, lamps and lite-brites. It's a hodgepodge of brilliance, a little geeky and kind of screwy, but like Honeyblu, put it all together and you end up with something really quite memorable.
For updated HoneyBlu info, including electronic media kits and audio downloads, visit the HoneyBlog at www.honeyblu.com.
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