The Honeydogs
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| the Honeydogs | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Minneapolis, MN |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Genres | Indie |
| Labels | United Musicians |
| Members | Adam Levy Noah Levey Trent Norton Brian Halverson Peter J. Sands Peter Anderson Jeff Victor |
Contents |
[edit] History
The story of the Honeydogs begins in Minneapolis in the early 1990..s with two combative yet musically harmonious brothers, songwriter/guitarist Adam and drummer Noah Levy who wanted a band in which their favorite music -- soul, American roots music, British pop, and punk -- could coexist. The band name has its origins in the Levy brothers' Dickensian childhood. Mrs. Levy grew tired of caring for the demanding, precocious younger brother, Noah. He spent much of his toddler-hood being babysat by the bee farm in their backyard and watching elder brother Adam play cardboard guitar to KISS records. Noah's earliest friends were bees; the band name descends from the name of the rack in which those buzzing surrogate nannies live.
The Levy brothers found a kindred spirit in bassist Trent Norton who had recently returned from a couple years touring the former Soviet Union and Western Europe in various bands. Together with John Fields and a few guests, Trent, Adam and Noah made their debut album "The Honeydogs" (1995) and toures extensively in those early years. Guitarist Tommy Borscheid's union with the band in 1995 helped fashion the band's rough-and-tumble early signature sound on "Everything, I Bet You" (1996) which Billboard magazine hailed as "Alt Country's Next Big Thing" in the mid 1990s. "But Country was only one facet of what we are doing or interested in," Adam says. "We liked Bowie and Jobim more than the Flying Burrito Brothers or Merle Haggard". In the early days, Levy penned tunes like "Miriam", a tribute to his late grandmother and her life immersed in social justice work. In "John Brown" Levy imagines how the abolitionist, if still alive, would view our current state of race relations. "Freak Show at the Fair" tapped into the alienation of people with disabilities and reflects on the society which excludes them. Courted and signed by the majors, The Honeydogs produced "Seen A Ghost" (1997), their largest selling record. "They were strange halcyon days," recalls bassist Norton "We toured with INXS weeks before Michael Hutchence death. We were feted and flown around the country and promised the moon." But their creative wanderlust and Levy's ever-expanding songwriting and stylistic vocabulary led them down more obscure, albeit fertile, musical paths.
The follow up to Seen a Ghost was "Here's Luck" (2000), recorded immediately following two tragedies in the band: the departure of guitarist Borscheid and Trent Norton's near death seizure. With howling guitars, soaring strings, melotrons, and dark psychedelia, "Here's Luck" was a paean to the music business sausage grinder and the band's indefatigable spirit. With the addition Brian Halverson's guitar work and Jeff Victor playing keyboards, the band's live and recorded sound began to evolve.
Their 2003 release, "10,000 Years" received widespread critical accolades as "the Sgt. Pepper of the new millennium", "Levy's masterpiece" and "a rock opera that would make Peter Townsend cry". Its conception and creation in 1999 predated 9/11 and eerily anticipated terrorist attacks on the West. Inspired by Levy's 17 years of work with youth offenders, welfare-to-work participants and immigrant populations, "10,000 Years" created a fan in Aimee Mann who released their record on her label and brought them out on tour.
On their newest effort, "Amygdala" (2006) (pronounced a-MIG-duh-la), the band again teamed up with long time friend, collaborator and producer John Fields, recording a five-day session in Minneapolis in fall of 2005. Guitarist Brian Halverson describes the session as "more raw and organic than the last few records". The amygdala is a part of the brain which regulates emotion, specifically fear. All of Levy's songs on Amygdala explore fears, obsessions, addiction, and the idea that emotional experience forms human memory. Amygdala continues the Honeydogs proclivity towards expanding the sonic and stylistic palette record-to-record and features a revitalized lineup including keyboardist and sonic wizard Peter J Sands and Minneapolis veteran drummer Peter Anderson. Guitarist Brian Halverson, along with Sands, create an eerie Stockhausen/Eno-esque sonic backdrop with guitars and synthesizers. Drummer Anderson brings a combination of rock raggedness and artful cadence to Amygdala.
The Honeydogs have shared the stage with artists as diverse as Los Lobos, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Lucinda Williams, Rufus Wainwright, The Old 97's, Aimee Mann, INXS, Jon Bon Jovi, Semisonic, Fastball, Jon Brion, Richard Thompson, The Proclaimers, 38 Special, Wilco, Michael Penn, The Jayhawks, Bare Naked Ladies, Soul Asylum, Al Franken, and actor Woody Harrelson. The journey for the Honeydogs from one-time American roots music torch bearers to contemporary art rockers has been a long and fruitful one and Amygdala is the Honeydogs' most experimental yet accessible work to date.
[edit] Musicians
- Adam Levy, singer-songwriter, guitars, piano, keyboards
- Trent Norton, bass, vocals
- Brian Halverson, guitars, vocals
- Peter J. Sands, piano, keyboards, organ
- Peter Anderson, drums, vocals, percussion
- John Fields, producer
[edit] Discography
- The Honeydogs, 1995
- Everything, I Bet You, 1996
- Seen a Ghost, 1997
- Here's Luck, 2000
- Island of Misfits, 2001
- 10,000 Years, 2003
- Amygdala, 2006
[edit] Other recordings
- Minneapolis Does Denver, 'Back Home Again',1995
