Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears : Tell 'Em What Your Name Is

When I got Austin’s Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears self-titled EP last month, I instantly fell in love with the single.

A down and dirty bluesy, James Brown/Ottis Redding/Howling Wolf-influenced, put your sunglasses on, bob your head and shake your first funkadelic rockfest, “” had me rolling my windows down and blaring those horns as loud as possible. But seeing as how I’m in Minnesota, unfortunately I must report that good, Motown-respecting funk doesn’t melt snow. Alas…

Now that we’re 6 weeks past the groundhog seeing his shadow, the good news is the snow is melting and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears just dropped their debut full length, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is, yesterday on Lost Highway Records. This is a great record. I’m seriously psyched about it, and have been playing it often. My two year-old loves it, too. There’s just something about a driving rhythm section, staccato horn charts and a wailing soulful singer.

For example, here’s the horn-driven, hip-shaking “Sugarfoot” of the new disc…