Black Joe Lewis And The Honeybears

Biography by Matt Collar Austin-based Black Joe Lewis is a contemporary singer and guitarist with a bent toward vintage blues, soul, and R&B. Backed by his band the Honeybears, Lewis draws inspiration from such legendary "shouters" as Howlin' Wolf, Wilson Pickett, and James Brown, as well as smoother crooners including Sam Cooke and others. Black Joe Lewis released his debut album on Weary in 2007. Around the same time, his appearance at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX garnered increased fan and press support. In 2009, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears released Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!, produced by Jim Eno (Spoon), on Lost Highway. The band toured relentlessly over the next year before reconvening at Austin's Public Hi-Fi studio with Eno to record its even grittier followup, Scandalous. The set contained an appearance by the gospel group the Relatives on "You Been Lyin'." Scandalous was released on Lost Highway in March of 2011.