It’s hard to believe that fast-rising East Anglian duo Honey And The Bear (aka Lucy and Jon Hart) are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. To mark the milestone, they will be heading out on the road this September/October, showcasing their spellbinding songwriting and versatile musicianship in no less than nine counties.
The Suffolk-based husband-and-wife, who released their third album Away Beyond The Fret to critical acclaim last November, will kick off the tour on the south coast, at Shoreham’s popular Ropetackle Arts Centre in West Sussex. (September 13). Following a September 22 home county gig at The Riverside in Woodbridge, the tour will move on to Hampshire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Norfolk and Derbyshire.
The duo fuse fine vocals and play a plethora of stringed instruments. They both play double bass, bouzouki and acoustic guitar while Lucy also plays ukulele and Jon provides effortless electric guitar. Adding their talents to the line-up will be members of Sam Kelly’s The Lost Boys band – Evan Carson on bodhran, drums and percussion and Archie Churchill-Moss on diatonic accordion will join Lucy and Jon on all shows while Toby Shaer will bring his multi-instrumental talents on whistle, flute, harmonium, viola and fiddle to five of the shows.
Audiences can expect to hear songs from each of their three albums – debut release Made In The Aker (2019), Journey Through The Roke (2021) and their 2023 album Away Beyond The Fret.
Honey and the Bear have long excelled at creating songs that are ‘close to home’. But the latest album is certainly their most personal and resonant yet.
Like their earlier albums it is steeped in Suffolk – the landscape, the people, the past and modern day heroes and heroines, the rich folklore and the restless sea. It culminates in a crisp and classy genre-hopping mix rooted in folk but flirting with Americana, country, rock and the mainstream.
Yorkshire-born Jon and Suffolk-born Lucy draw huge inspiration from their surroundings in all its moods and guises and have been writing and performing together at gigs and festivals in the UK and Europe since 2014 having met at a songwriting event two years earlier.
Honey And The Bear and their gifted guest musicians promise a tour to remember this autumn as they delve into their rich and burgeoning back catalogue.
Coinciding with the tour, the duo will release a stand-out single – their take on Sandy Denny’s classic ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes?’ which has proved a showstopper at their live performances, with exquisite vocals from Lucy.
TOUR DATES
With special guests Evan Carson and Archie Churchill-Moss
*with Toby Shaer
September 13: Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex *
September 22: The Riverside, Woodbridge, Suffolk *
September 27: Forest Arts, New Milton, Hampshire *
September 28: The Milton Rooms, Malton, North Yorkshire
September 29: Blackfriars Arts Centre, Boston, Lincolnshire
September 30: J2, The Junction, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire *
October 3: Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire
October 4: The Octagon Chapel, Norwich, Norfolk *
October 5: Folk at The Meadows, Belper, Derbyshire
Artists’ website: honeyandthebear.co.uk
‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes’:
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