Great music begins with great songs, and great songs are what the Honey Island Swamp Band is all about. The band came together after 4 friends were marooned in San Francisco after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Amidst the chaos, they formed a band, got some gigs, and their “Bayou Americana” sound was born, reminiscent of forefathers and influences such as Little Feat, The Band, Taj Mahal, Earl King, Jerry Garcia, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Gram Parsons and Jimmy Reed. Their
Great music begins with great songs, and great songs are what the Honey Island Swamp Band is all about. The band came together after 4 friends were marooned in San Francisco after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Amidst the chaos, they formed a band, got some gigs, and their “Bayou Americana” sound was born, reminiscent of forefathers and influences such as Little Feat, The Band, Taj Mahal, Earl King, Jerry Garcia, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Gram Parsons and Jimmy Reed. Their eponymous EP was recorded in 2006 at famed studio The Plant in Sausalito, CA, and was received so well that they all decided to continue the band upon moving back home to New Orleans in 2007.
Wishing Well, the band’s first full length album (produced by Tom Drummond of Better Than Ezra) won “Best Blues Album” of 2009 from OffBeat Magazine, which has also honored Honey Island Swamp Band as “Best Emerging Artist” of 2009 and “Best Roots Rock Artist” of 2010. In 2011, the band was named "Best Roots Rock Artist" by New Orleans' most prestigious arts & entertainment honors, the Big Easy Awards. HISB’s newest offering – Good To You – was nominated by OffBeat as “Best Roots Rock Album” of 2010, listed on numerous "Top 10 CDs" of that year, and has become a staple of most DJs on the Crescent City’s legendary radio station WWOZ, as well as on Sirius/XM satellite radio’s Bluesville and traditional stations from coast‐to‐coast. Featuring the southern strut of songs such as “Country Girl”, “300 Pounds” and the album’s first single “Chocolate Cake”, Good To You illuminates the mix of country‐inflected rock and New Orleans funky blues that makes Honey Island Swamp Band’s music so familiar and unique at the same time.
