Honeychurch

Honeychurch is a group from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Music journals such as The Big Takeover and No Depression have described Honeychurch's music as a mix of indie rock, alt country, and slow core, with strong influences from 1960s and 1970s psychedelic and folk rock [Jack Rabid, "The Big Takeover" issue #53, Jack's Top 40, May 2004] [Sam Adams, "Philadelphia Citypaper", March 2001] ["No Depression" issue #54, November 2004] [Joey Sweeney, The Philadelphia Weekly, October 10, 2001] . Honeychurch has released two critically acclaimed albums: " Calling Me Home" (2001) and "Makes Me Feel Better" (2004).

Background

The band was originally the solo project of Virginia-born Shilough Hopwood (singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter). Shilough wrote many of the tracks on the band's 2004 release, "Makes Me Feel Better".Cite web|url=http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewid=4003|title=Honeychurch, Makes Me Feel Better|accessdate=2008-06-03|year=2004-06-07|author=Chuck Zak|work=Delusions of Adequacy] Larissa Hopwood joined in 1999. She plays bass and sings both lead and harmony vocals. Lead guitarist Tim Kratz joined Honeychurch in 2001, and with his presence, the live band took shape. Kratz's playing combines slide guitar and B-Bender techniques and is often mistaken for pedal steel. Drummer Greg Millward joined Honeychurch in 2004, replacing Stefan Baker. A native of Doncaster, England (in Yorkshire), Millward started playing drums in the brass bands which are traditional in the Northern England, and also played in Thumper and other groups in England before joining Honeychurch in 2004.

Other Honeychurch contributors and collaborators include engineer and pianist Patrick Robinson, violinist Jay Ansill, harmonica player Vinny Asaro, pedal steel guitarist Jim Cohen, and designer David Weed. Both Honeychurch albums were released with the help of independent record store Siren Records in Doylestown, PA. The band was named one of "Philadelphia Weekly"'s Top 5 of the Moment in March 2001Cite web|url=http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=3591&highlight=honeychurch|title=Top 5 of the Moment|accessdate=2008-06-03|year=2001-03-21|author=Joey Sweeney|work=Philadelphia Weekly] and they've continued to garner significant attention in the Philadelphia area.Cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=104414A6262752FE&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=A Country-Rock Quartet that's Almost Famous|accessdate=2008-06-03|year=2004-08-01|author=Gloria A. Hoffner|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer]

Discography

*"Calling Me Home" (2001)
*"Makes Me Feel Better" (2004)

References

Further reading & External links

* [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=40811769&Mytoken=725EB2B7-F3BF-4DE7-A666BB3271C38EB13164357250 Official Website]
* [http://wm03.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=HONEYCHURCH&sql=11:avfyxq8aldde~T0 Honeychurch at All Music Guide]