Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears

Black Joe Lewis is a blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose work has been going through and/or regularly touching base with the classic soul sound of the '70s. His blues is electric and has strong rock accents. His band, The Honeybears, has a horn section that gives his music a fuller, more orchestral body. This was especially the case in their early albums where the retro soul style had a stronger pull on their music. They continued to hone their blues along the way, took a detour into the rough and raw bluesy rock territory, and later came to settle more decisively on a kind of blues with clear contemporary shades. Lewis is an outstanding guitarist and has that old school rough and gravely voice that is tailor-made for his style of music. The band, on the other hand, is also pretty special in how hard they groove, and how effective and precise they are.