Sweating Honey

From the relative creative isolation of Alaska comes a band by the name of Sweating Honey who has taken the genre-splicing elements of Americana to extremes which mirror their unique surroundings. Although they have a style which lead singer Luke Beckel described in a 2002 interview as being “more a product of accident than design,” there is no doubt that Sweating Honey has worked tirelessly crafting a sound all their own over the better part of a decade. They have long enjoyed immense popularity throughout their home state, and are regarded locally as an Alaskan institution. As they have grown, so has their following, and their desire to expand beyond the Northwest and take their sound to a world audience.

Sweating Honey began in 1999 as a lighthearted joining of several freshman at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, studying music individually. With young classically trained musicians who were eager to experiment with genre - classical, roots, psychedelic, bluegrass, jazz, rock and roll, and beyond - the collaboration quickly became a project to which every member was sincerely dedicated. Over time the band’s audience and repertoire grew steadily, as did their local following. Even in the earliest years key influences such as James Brown, Ryan Adams, Paul Simon, and Tower of Power stood out in their instrumentally eclectic and vocally poignant performances. They released a locally produced studio album “Infinity’s Doorstop” in 2005, which was their first venture into the national music community, and it was greeted enthusiastically by music lovers and critics alike. In late 2005 the album was named as a finalist for the Independent Music World Series. Their first studio release was followed in short order by a lightly distributed live recording, “Live from the Sitzmark,” and two additional tracks were included in the compilation albums “Tell the Children the Truth” and “Stranger Than the City.”

“When We Were Young,” Sweating Honey’s sophomore studio album, was released in late 2008. Mid-2009 found the band at an exciting impasse - they had nearly 10,000 albums in circulation, as well as an admirable resume that reflected the near decade of music they have played. They have shared stages with musicians whose work and careers they admire, including the multi-Grammy Award winning Blind Boys of Alabama, Clinton Fearon and the Boogie Brown Band, Rusted Root, Sun Volt, The Hot Butter Rum String Band, The Big Wu, Leftover Salmon, Keller Williams, Soul Asylum, Cake, The Meat Purveyors, Matisyahu, Ozomatli, and many more. They have played for crowds of thousands, as well as at more intimate venues, and have sold albums on every continent. It seemed that the release of “When We Were Young” marked an important personal and professional juncture, and the band made the decision to begin the process of seeking a label and distribution to a wider audience.

Currently Sweating Honey is back in the studio, writing and recording material for two brand new EP’s. With these new albums Sweating Honey is trying a genre specific approach. While the first is slated to focus more on the funk and soul rock and roll side of the band which keeps people dancing in any venue, the second will deal with the more rootsy Americana side of the band that listeners and lyric enthusiasts have grown to love.